


The Light in The Darkness

by annemarie213



Category: Villainous (Cartoon)
Genre: 5.0.5 is just happy that his dad finally found someone to love, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Black Hat is seductive but also a dork, Demencia is gonna be a bit unhappy about the situation tho, First Kiss, First Meetings, Fluff, Flug is sweaty and nervous but supportive, Gender-neutral Reader, Other, Platonic Relationships, Reader is gonna be friends with the rest of the gang, Reader is just a normal human, Reader-Insert, Slow Burn, Soulmates - glowing chests, The title refers to BH's chest glowing, This fic is hardly gonna be 'dark' bcuz i just want black hat fluff, cuz he wears all black and everything, hope im using that tag right, just in case you wanted to know, unbetaed we write and die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-10
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2019-07-10 14:12:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 22,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15950996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/annemarie213/pseuds/annemarie213
Summary: Soulmates had the ability to make one's life both better and worse. Those, who did end up with their soulmate, were promised a happy forever after, but you weren't so sure if the same could be said for you, considering your soulmate was the most powerful and dangerous eldritch being on the whole planet. He had conquered the world several times before, just for fun. He reigned supreme and even the most feared villains stayed out of his path.You had always dreamed of meeting your soulmate, but not like this. Nothing like this.





	1. Banks and Breaks

**Author's Note:**

> I just really love Black Hat/Reader fluff, but most of the BH/reader fanfics are dark and angsty, so I decided to just write a fic myself.

Soulmates had the ability to make one’s life better or harder. Some found their soulmates and stayed with them without any trouble. Some people had given up on their soulmates and had someone else to spend their life with. Sometimes, this worked out, but other times people would be surprised by their chest suddenly glowing when they were out with their significant other, signaling that their soulmate is nearby. Some people found their soulmates, but agreed to stay with their partners instead of breaking up in order to stay with their soulmate. Yes, soulmates brought along their fair share of troubles, but people had always found some way to work around it. Everyone had different view on soulmates and their importance in one’s life.

You personally found the thought rather romantic. The chances of meeting your soulmate were rather slim, as they could be anybody on earth, but you hoped that you would meet them someday. Of course, one could fall in love and stay with someone who wasn’t their soulmate, but they were guaranteed to have a match for life if they ended up with their soulmate. Hence the name; soul-mate. Many myths spoke of soulmates, as someone assigned to you by the gods, your souls fitting perfectly together. You hoped to find your other soul.

 

Working in a bank involved more socializing than one would think. Many people came in to withdraw or get help with something. You saw new faces almost every day, but no one who made your chest glow. You were a patient person, but sometimes you wished that your soulmate would just walk through the door already.

‘’Hey, (y/n), you’re needed in the back. I’ll watch the desk for you in the meantime.’’

Thanking your colleague, you made your way to the back. It was a slow day as always. One might think that working in a bank would be dangerous work with all those villains running amok, but the Nation Bank System was one of the best guarded banks in the world, with its impenetrable walls and superheroes constantly guarding the bank. They weren’t high-ranking superheroes, but they were certainly enough to keep the bank safe from all threats that had tried to rob the bank. HAD tried. You didn’t know if they would be able to keep up, as the attacks on the bank had gotten more and more frequent. Many had said that the villains were trying to take down the invincible bank in order to show off their powers, making it a contest everybody could join. The thought did make you slightly uneasy, but you trusted the security. You were safe.

That’s what you wanted to believe, but the world just had to prove you wrong, as the ground shook underneath you, causing your legs to tremble. This wasn’t an earthquake. You could feel the unease flare up in you, but you knew that getting nervous would just make your day worse. The heroes would probably have this wrapped up in no time, and you could return to work, just as usual. The explosion proved you wrong. As the walls crumbled around you, your colleagues ran for their lives, making their way down to the safety room that the bank had in case something like this would happen. Just as you were about to turn around and follow the stream of screaming people, you remembered your colleague who had was watching the desk while you were away. You had to make sure that he was okay, as the explosion came from the front of the bank.

Fortunately, the front area was empty. Whoever was attacking the bank had not made it inside yet, and your colleague had escaped. You were just about to run yourself, when the ceiling caved in. It wouldn’t be able to keep you safe from the larger slabs of ceiling, but you took the chance and hid under the desk as the floor cracked under the weight of the rocks. If any of those hit the desk you would die. This was literally one of the worst ideas you had ever had, besides working in a bank. No matter how safe it was, something like this was bound to happen sooner or later. You clamped your hands on your ears, trying to block out all the noise, as you felt yourself panicking.

It took a while before it began to quiet down. You slowly removed your hands, as you tried figure out what was happening now. You heard a loud high-pitched laugh from somewhere, but it wasn’t anywhere close to you. Then, you heard somebody yelling angrily at whoever was laughing, the laughter continuing anyway.

Then there were footsteps. And they were close. In fact, they seemed to be making their way towards the desk you were hiding under, but you hardly paid attention to that. No, you were focused on your chest, which had started glowing. Why now? Was there a superhero nearby, trying to save the bank? The steps faltered, then stopped. Then continued. As the steps got closer, the light got brighter. Was it a civilian, trying to play hero and look for survivors, that was making their way towards you? You didn’t dare poke your head out to look.

 

You were grateful that it was a sunny day, making the light from your chest harder to notice.

‘’Well, well.’’ A smooth voice spoke. ‘’Looks like someone didn’t make it out.’’

You froze. That was a voice you - no – everyone would recognize. As the tall dark figure leaned over the desk to look at you, you could not help but notice the glowing white spot on his chest.

His inhuman smile stretched across his face as he spoke; ‘’I must say, this was not how I envisioned my first meeting with my soulmate.’’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why did i describe BH's voice as smooth? It aint smooth at all, it's more like gravelly


	2. Let's Just Talk, For Now

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Self-care is writing another long fanfic while taking a break from writing your other two long fanfics  
> I've lost control of my life  
> Also, reader is referred to with they/them-pronouns to keep the story gender-neutral, also in this fic, people can refer to their soulmate as 'their other soul', as I'm personally not a fan of the 'my other half'-trope, and as you can see in this fic, people can fall in love with people who aren't their soulmate and may actually never end up with their soulmate, even if they've met each other

You had heard of cases like this. It was inevitable that some civilians ended up with a superhero or a supervillain as their soulmate, and the latter were always more difficult to handle. In most cases, it was kept secret. Being the soulmate of someone important always proved to be dangerous, and it wasn’t uncommon that villains would kidnap the soulmates of heroes and hold them hostage. The soulmates of villains were often persuaded to talk some sense into their other soul, which often didn’t work. Between villains, one was considered a coward if they attacked another villain’s soulmate, as it was what they called the ‘easy way’ of challenging another. Attacking/kidnapping a superhero’s soulmate was fine though, as it was done for the sake of evil. Weird rules, but you had never thought too much about them. Not like they would matter anyway, as you knew no villain who would be stupid enough to challenge Black Hat.

 

Everyone knew who Black Hat was. He was the single entity that everyone would bow to without hesitation if he ever demanded it. His origins were unknown and shrouded in mystery, everyone just assuming that he had always ‘’been here’’, instead of digging deeper and looking for a logical explanation. NOT LIKE ANY OF THIS MATTERED, you had to remind yourself, as you found yourself frozen in place by his predatory gaze. With any other villain, your position as soulmate might have been your key to avoiding certain death, but you didn’t know if Black Hat would care about such things. As far as you knew, destruction and evil was all that he cared about. Perhaps he would let you live in order to play some sick game with you. You had no idea what to expect.

‘’I apologize for this little incident, if I had known you would be ‘the one’, I would have made sure to make a better first impression.’’

Suddenly, he was in front of you, offering you a hand, while keeping the other one behind his back. Was he holding a weapon or something? His smile no longer made you feel like a prey, his expression having softened, but you still did not feel safe in his presence. Your eyes darted between his hand and his face, searching for any signs of ulterior motives, before stopping. What did it matter? He could do anything he wanted, while you could do nothing. He was an ageless eldritch horror who was feared by all, and you were just a human.

You glanced at the light on his chest, as you slowly reached out towards his hand and took it. His leather gloves were soft, but his hand was cold. He brought you to your feet, while also bringing you a bit closer to him than you would have liked. Your hands landed on his chest in, trying not to fall into him. Being this close to him made it look as if there was a ball of light between your chests, connecting you. That was pretty symbolic, but it really wasn’t something to get sidetracked about. In fact, it seemed like your brain was constantly looking for something else to focus on, than the tall villain in front of you, who had now placed both his hands on your waist, steadying you as your legs shook.

He let out a deep chuckle, ‘’I must admit, that I did not believe such a day would ever come. I’m older than any living being on this planet, I’ve seen every corner, every nook and cranny of this planet, but _this_ ,’’ he gestured to his glowing chest, ‘’is something I’ve never seen before.’’

You kept quiet. You didn’t know what to say. There was no way in hell that you could have prepared for this situation, leaving it to Black Hat to lead the conversation.

‘’Not very talkative, are you?’’ he leaned a bit closer to your face, gauging your reaction to his presence, ‘’I have that affect on many, which is fine by me, as I have no desire to have any conversation with the cretin of this earth,’’ his left hand moved to cup your cheek, making you look at him, ‘’but I must say that I wish to hear my chosen one’s voice. I’m sure you know who I am, so why don’t you introduce yourself to me?’’

If it was anybody else you might have felt flustered by the attention, but fear still coursed through your body, prompting you to tell him your name, in order not to invoke his wrath.

‘’U-um, my name is (y/n).’’

‘’(y/n)’’ he repeated your name slowly, as if he was tasting it, as it passed over his tongue. ‘’A fitting name.’’ he said, as he drew circles on your cheek with his thumb. The… intimate? moment was ruined however, as you picked up the sound of police sirens in the distance, signaling the arrival of the police and possibly other superheroes.

It was then that you noticed a figure making it’s way towards you.

‘’Black Hat sir, I’ve managed to calm Demencia and we are…’’ the paperbag-wearing man trailed off as he looked at you, standing in Black Hat’s embrace, and the ball of light between you. You recognized him as Flug, one of Black Hat’s close henchmen.

Black Hat’s grip tightened, as he spoke through gritted teeth to the newcomer, ‘’And you are _what?_ ’’

‘’Ah! I’m very sorry sir; I did not mean to interrupt! I didn’t know…-’’

‘’Get to the point, Flug!’’ Black Hat yelled, causing the other man to flinch.

‘’We are- we have acquired what we came for, and are now ready to pull back, sir! If we don’t leave soon, I won’t be able to keep Demencia from attacking the heroes.’’

Black Hat let out a frustrated sigh, ‘’Go make yourself useful and get 5.0.5 and the other nuisance out of here. I’ll be there shortly.’’

‘’Yes, of course sir.’’ Flug squeaked, as he scrambled away from the scene, stumbling over a rock in his hurry, leaving you and Black Hat standing in the midst of the remains of the destroyed building.

‘’Well, I’m afraid that I’ll have to cut this meeting short. For your own sake, I advise that you keep this little thing of ours a secret.’’ He leaned down to your face, his face obscuring the rest of the world, leaving you no choice but to look at his face and take in every detail, from his sharp green fangs, to the monocle that was impossible to look through. He whispered one last thing to you, before he vanished into thin air.

‘’This isn’t the last you’ll see of me, my little light.’’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is like my third fanfic (with the other two being unfinished), so if you have any comments about how I write the characters and their interactions, you are welcome to comment it but please keep the critique kind


	3. The Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the nice comments <3

Your legs still shook, as you sat down on a large slab of rubble, listening to the commotion outside of police and heroes yelling orders at each other. You just hoped everyone was safe.

It did not take long before the heroes had confirmed that the attackers had left the building, making it safe for the police to go in and secure the victims. Luckily, no one had died or gotten severely injured. However, the building was almost completely destroyed, leaving you all jobless for the time being. That wasn’t such a big problem, considering this sort of thing happened to a lot of people, so of course there existed organizations, who supported those who had been victims of villains, meaning that you would not be forced from your house, but you definitely had to be careful with how you used your money.

Wrapped in a blanket, you were brought to the chief of police to answer some questions, just like a few of your colleagues.

‘’Make yourself comfortable.’’ The old man said, said as he gestured to the folding chair they had brought with them. ‘’Now, I’m just gonna be asking ya’ a few questions about the attack, and then you are free to go. First of all; according to my officers, you were the only one who was not in a safety room. They said that they found you sitting in the main room. Why is that?’’ he questioned, as he brought forth a little notebook and a pencil, prepared to record your words.

‘’Well, I had been called out to the back earlier, where one of my colleagues watched over the front desk while I was out. When the attack started, I felt that I had to go check on him, to make sure that he had gotten away safely. When I got there, he was gone, but I didn’t have time to leave as the ceiling caved in on me, and I was trapped.’’ You said, leaving out the part with Black Hat on purpose. You really hoped that the security cameras had been destroyed; otherwise there was a chance that they would learn of your encounter with him.

‘’You’re sure lucky that you managed to remain unscathed from that, kiddo. When we arrived, the attackers had already left, you didn’t manage to get a look at their faces did ya?’’

You tensed up, ‘’N-no, I’m sorry sir. I hid under my desk and stayed there until I was sure the attack was over.’’

The officer let out a small sigh, ‘’Nah, no need for apologizing. Civilians are instructed to stay away from the villains during an attack. You did the right thing. I’ve only got a couple of questions left about the attack itself, but I bet your colleagues can answer those. You’re free to go. Go home and get some rest, you’re probably the one who needs it the most of all these people.’’

Gripping your blanket, you nodded your head and let another person take your seat.

You really needed a nap.

 

The sun blinded you, as you slowly opened your eyes, before closing them again, feeling the sting slowly fade. Wait… the sun was up. Oh gosh, what time was it? You had to get to work. Tangled in the soft blanket, you fell out of the sofa and onto the floor, bruising your arm while trying to shield your face. It was then that you remembered the events of yesterday. The bank was gone, and possibly your stable life too. Everything was different.

You had to contact the organization today, the sooner the better. Innocent Victim’s Organization – also known as IVO – was the organization assigned to your town. Each town had a specific organization assigned to it, in order to prevent confusion or mistakes, and every citizen (Civilians. Superheroes were supported directly by the government) paid a monthly tax to their organization, and the money were used to support those in need. Looks like it was your turn now.

After dragging yourself trough your usual morning routine, you sat down with your laptop and a cup of tea, ready to fill in the application form. One of the questions were; ‘’Why do you require support?’’. After ticking off the box with ‘’Lost job due to villain(s)’’, an empty textbox popped up, where you had to write details, such as where you had worked and why you could no longer work. The usual security questions that were always asked in order to prevent people from scamming the organization.

The organizations handled huge amounts of money, as almost every civilian would need villain-related support at least once or twice in their life, with all the crimes happening everywhere. Sometimes, you wondered what the world would be like without all these supervillains or superheroes.

After you had sent the application, you were informed that you would receive an answer in a few days.

 

They wanted to see you at the main building. They didn’t explain why, but it was a condition for you to receive your support, so you didn’t have much of a choice. Their building was big but humble. Nicely decorated, but definitely nothing too expensive. The receptionist told you that the head of the organization, Mr. Grutio, wanted to have a private conversation, but gave you no hint as to what the conversation was about.

‘’I presume that you are (y/n)? Everyone knows about the attack, and I’m terribly sorry that you had to go through such a thing,’’ the mutant offered you a sympathetic look; his four green-golden eyes sparkling like gemstones in the sun. ‘’We here at the organization pride ourselves on helping those unfortunate souls, who become victims of those using their power for evil.’’ He spoke, as you made your way down the hall towards his office. He was obviously dedicated to his cause, as he spoke with such emotion. Most people were rather indifferent towards such things nowadays, as it had become ‘normal’, but this guy seemed passionate.

His office wasn’t anything too extravagant either, but it definitely looked a bit better than the rest of the building.

‘’Most of these paintings and other decorative trinkets are gifts from people we have supported through the years. This one,’’ he pointed to a big blue painting depicting a flock of blue swans, ‘’is from an elderly man who was able to get a prosthetic arm with our help, after his arm had been amputated after he had gotten caught up in a fight between a hero and a villain on the open street. It took quite a while, but he has finally gotten so used to his new arm that he is now able to paint with it. It’s truly wonderful to see people stand up on their own after getting knocked down.’’ He sat down in his chair, ‘’The reason I called you here, was to ask you a few in depth questions about you application. I was informed by the police, that you were found outside of the safe rooms. Our applications do not have many questions about mentally or physically damage that one may have suffered. You wrote, that you had no harm done to you, but considering you were the closest to the attacks, and could potentially have been squashed by the falling rubble, I felt that it was necessary to make sure that you are alright. Now, tell me about the attack, please.’’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of the things that I'm good at, is being able to make up stuff rather easily when I write. I had originally only planned for the first chapter, and had absolutely no idea what should happen next, but I've managed to flesh out a plot in no time so it's all good.  
> I'm just making this shit up as I go, is basically what I'm saying


	4. Choices

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've started at my new job this week, and I have to get up rather early each day, which means that I'm usually really tired when I get home, which is why it took so long to update. But hey, this chapter is almost 2k words long.

It had been a month since the destruction of the Nation Bank System. The first couple of weeks had been busy, looking for jobs and being basically interrogated, by everyone you knew, about the attack. Every time you tried to return to normal life, someone had to ask you about it, making it impossible to forget the moment that sealed your fate as Black Hat’s soulmate. You were his soulmate whether or not you met him, but had it not been for that meeting, neither of you would have known about it.

It had been a month. A whole month of silence. Besides having had to use your days finding a job, with help from IVO, everything was as usual. However, it was impossible to relax. Black Hat’s last words still rung in your head; _‘’This isn’t the last you’ll see of me, my little light’’._

You had figured that he would maybe show up a week later, or something, but it had been a whole month now and you had seen _nothing_ , and you were growing more and more anxious with each passing day.

 

‘’(y/n)? You still with us?’’

You blinked at the hand being waved in front of your face; ‘’Hu-h, what, what?’’ you stumbled on your own words, as your new colleague put their hand down. ‘’You seriously can’t keep spacing out like that! Otherwise the boss is going to notice sooner or later. I know, that you’ve insisted that you haven’t been affected by the attack several times, but I personally think that you should consider I.V.O’s offer. They’ve had lots of cases like yours, you know. It would probably do you good, even if you haven’t suffered anything serious.’’

Perhaps they were right. I.V.O had helped you get a new job, but still wanted to be on the lookout for any mental or physical damage from the attack that hadn’t been discovered yet. You had agreed to let them check up on your health for the next 2-3 months, where you could agree to see an organization-assigned therapist with economical support from them. You still didn’t feel like you needed to get therapy, but perhaps it would do you good to talk to someone about it. Just not the soulmate part. There was no way in hell that you would ever tell anybody about _that_!

Picking up you phone, you dialed the number, and waited for it to go through.

‘’Yes, hello, Grutio, I wanted to know if we could talk sometime?’’

 

 

Meanwhile, elsewhere, a tall and dark figure looked upon the city, through the redly tinted window of his mansion.

He had ruled the world – no, he had merely ruled the species that populated it – yet he had absolutely no power that could change this outcome. He could kill his soulmate, sure, but it would never change the fact that at one point, there had existed someone, who was connected to him, no matter what he or they did.

Did he want to kill his soulmate? The very first time he had been introduced to the concept, it had seemed like the natural thing to do. He had no place in his life for something as silly as love. Once, there were two people that he chased around, simply for a bit of fun, and when he had finally cornered them, one of them had gotten on their knees and begged. Begged for his soulmate to be spared. A stupid request, yet he had decided to allow it. Whether it was an unprecedented act of mercy, or another form of torture didn’t matter. When he was done, he watched, as the soulmate wept and wept, tugging and shaking the corpse, as a pitiful attempt to bring their other soul back.

Back then a soulmate would have been nothing but an annoyance to him. And yet, as the millenniums had passed by, he could not help but wonder; what would his soulmate be like? Did he even have one? He had toyed with the idea as time progressed, and had caught himself daydreaming about how he would like to greet his other soul, should they ever meet.

 

A crash out in the hallway brought his attention back to the present. Nothing serious, it was only those imbeciles running amok, for whatever unknown reason.

Just as he was getting ready to let those fools know that he demanded silence, the door to his private office was bust open. There stood Demencia, her breathing ragged, her clothes slightly torn and a faceplanting Flug was holding onto her leg with the last of his strength, trying desperatly to drag her out of the room.

‘’I’m sorry sir, I couldn’t stop her…-‘’

‘’DARLING! Is it true that you have a SOULMATE?’’ Demencia yelled. Black Hat instinctively barred his sharp teeth slightly, already fed up with their presence.

‘’Daaarling, why aren’t you answering meee?’’ she asked, as she brought up her hands to her face, trying to make herself seem cute or attractive or something. He wasn’t entirely sure if she was just trying to flirt as usual, or if this was just another tic triggered by a hidden anger.

‘’Demencia, please get out. If you stop talking now, I’ll let you wreck my lab just once, without putting you in containment again, if you just…-‘’ He was interrupted by a punch to the face from Demencia. They both flinched when Black Hat’s gravely voice was heard; ‘’Why must she not speak, Flug?’’ He looked at the scientist, who tried to make himself smaller. ‘’You wouldn’t happen to have _told_ her anything, that she shouldn’t know, would you?’’

‘’Uuh, I might have- but it was not about that, I swear! It was more of like a sidenote, that obviously wasn’t important to the story, but then she got fixated on it and…-‘’

‘’ **Enough.** ’’

The room became quiet.

‘’Demencia.’’ The girl looked glad, yet horrified to have his attention, ‘’ **Get out.** ’’ 

After saying her ‘sweet’ goodbyes, she latched onto the wall and crawled out of the office, leaving Flug alone with Black Hat. His paperbag was getting damp, and he was still hunched, cowering before his boss, who appeared oddly calm.

‘’Now, Flug.’’ He twitched. ‘’I’ll overlook this _incident_ , but if you tell her another word without my permission, you know what will happen.’’ He walked around his desk and sat in his chair. ‘’Tell me what you know about soulmates.’’

‘’Soulmates, sir? I can’t say much from a scientific point of view, soulmates are still a mystery in that aspect, but as far as we know, soulmates are believed to have been around just as long as humanity has. There is no saying whether it, this phenomenon, came into existence _after_  humanity came into being, or if it somehow has always been around. Nevertheless, we still don’t know exactly what makes soulmates _soulmates_.’’ His hand came to where his mouth should be, his goggles showing an absent look in his eye, as he often had when he was recalling and explaining information. ‘’Seeing as people can easily fall in love with someone who _isn’t_ their soulmate, it means that soulmates aren’t necessarily meant to end up together. Many have theorized that being one’s soulmate simply means being one’s perfect match. If the conditions allow it, and they do end up together, the chances of them breaking apart due to a bad relationship is pretty much zero. Several researches have been conducted, and they all show the same tendency; if no mental, economical, cultural - and so on – problems are present, it is almost unheard of, for a couple of soulmates to leave each other…’’

‘’Enough about the science and statistics, Flug.’’ Black Hat tapped his fingers on the table, letting the doctor know, that his patience was being worn thin.

‘’R-r-right, of course! The most basic things to know about soulmates are these; When soulmates are within a small distance of each other, their chests will begin to emit a bright light, that will get even brighter, the closer they are to each other. Secondly, the light does not stay forever. When the couple shares their first kiss, the light disappears, and does not ever come back.’’

Black Hat waited for Flug to continue; yet he did not. ‘’Is that all?’’

‘’Yes sir. That’s all we know about soulmates as of now.’’

He raised a gloved hand to rub his temple. He didn’t know what he had expected. Perhaps he was looking for an explanation. How did _he_ of all things, get to have a soulmate? What made them fit to be his other soul? How should he proceed with them?

‘’Boss, if I may, I suggest that you try talking to your soulmate, if you are curious about them.’’

The hand on his temple was lowered, allowing him to look at the doctor in front of him, who once again had reverted to his anxious state. Black Hat didn’t comment on his suggestion.

‘’Bring me the parasite flower.’’

‘’The Dapura Repulsa flower? Why would you want that, sir?’’

The room got dark, the shadows writhing on the walls and the floor, and the light coming through the red window dimmed. The doctor instantly got the hint, and quickly ran off to his lab to fetch the flower.

 

Black Hat watched the parasite flower, inside the metal and glass container that was seated on his desk, its eye trained on him. He was clearly its chosen target, and that was fine by him. He had an experiment to conduct after all.

Smashing the brittle – well, it was brittle for him – container, he grabbed ahold of the flower, as it struggled to wrestle itself free and make its way to his chest, where his heart would be, if he had one. During a filming of an orientation video, a flower just like this one had landed on his chest, after having attacked his useless underlings. Attached this his underlings, the flower had been able to turn their affection into disgust, by attaching itself to their heart and manipulating it, but in his case, it had simply died after a short period, as he had no heart for it to cling to. The same thing was likely to happen now, but he was willing to try, if only to see if anything had changed somehow. He let go of the flower, and watched it, as it crawled up his arm, to sit on his chest. When the purple flower’s tendrils had snuck under his clothes and drilled their way into his chest, he waited patiently for a reaction.

 

Nothing happened.

He felt just as confused as the flower looked, its single yellow eye conveying a look of confusion. It was still alive. Even though the flower had no effect on him, just like last time, it didn’t die either. He plucked the flower off his chest, and let it drop to the floor. It cast him a single gaze, confused about the experience, before scampering out the door to look for a new target. He’d let the idiots deal with it.

The experiment hadn’t given him any answers.

But there was _something_. _Something that had changed in him_.

 

Perhaps Flug’s idea was worth a try.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't fix any mistakes in my chapters before I upload them, it's usually only if i reread a chapter and see a mistake that I fix it


	5. Second Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second meeting with Mr. Grutio, second meeting with Black Hat

‘’So, from what you’ve explained to me, it’s safe to say there is a bigger chance for problems than we’ve believed thus far.’’

Mr. Grutio sat before you, behind his desk, his clawed hands folded underneath his chin, as he stared at nothing, silently thinking to himself for a moment. After your trouble with concentrating the whole month, you had finally caved in and decided to tell Mr. Grutio _some_ of the truth. Just as you colleague had said, they’ve had many cases like this before, so they should know how to ease a patients mind.

‘’That’s exactly why I’m here. I though that I’d be able to handle it by myself, as I didn’t notice any major problems, but it has actually been affecting me more than I’d like to admit.’’

He gave you a patient smile, ‘’That’s quite alright. I’ve had others who only told the whole truth _several years_ after the event. Sometimes, people just need to process things, before they can accept them and work towards recovery. However, I’m rather impressed by you. It must’ve been terrifying hiding from _Black Hat_ , while he was only a few feet away. I must ask; have you told the police?’’

You shook your head, feeling a slight nervousness, fearing that he would judge you.

‘’Hm, I see. I think it would be for the best that it stayed a secret.’’

‘’Huh?’’ That was certainly not what you expected him to say. Why in the world should it stay a secret?

‘’I know this must sound rather odd to you, but this is _Black Hat_ we are talking about. Besides the obvious fact that the police and superheroes have never been able to defeat him, you have to think about yourself too. If word somehow gets out, that you’ve managed to survive an encounter with Black Hat, you won’t only have to worry about civilians and news reporters hounding you every second, you will also have to worry about other villains who might come take you down, in order to gain Black Hat’s approval, or simply gain a bit of fame in the underworld. But the most likely outcome is, that Black Hat himself will return to finish the job ‘properly’.’’ He unfolded his hands, and looked into the drawer, pulling out a pamphlet and handing it to you. ‘’We usually offer courses with a psychologist from our organization, who specializes in victims of villain-related events. If you’d like, you can take this pamphlet home with you, and decide if you’d like to accept this offer. We’ll be waiting eagerly for your answer.’’

 

You stopped by the supermarket on your way home, to get a snack for later. You had the day off tomorrow, so you would stay up late and watch shitty movies while eating junk, just to treat yourself a bit. You deserved it, every day had been a real pain to get through, and now you finally felt at ease. You had someone who could help you through this, and it had been so long since the attack.

_‘’This isn’t the last you’ll see of me, my little light.’’_

That’s what he had said, but it been so long, so you figured that the incarnation of evil had lost any interest he might have had in you, and decided to simply leave you alone. Perhaps you were just lying to yourself, but if it gave you a moment of peace, then you would gladly accept it. Tonight, you would forget about the world and enjoy yourself.

 

Wrapped in a blanket, you rested your head on the sofa, looking at the TV-screen, yet registering nothing of what was happening on the screen. Your mind was far away, your body enjoying the warmth provided by the blanket, and the white noise from the TV. Before long, you had fallen asleep, feeling content and safe, for the first time in a long while.

 

You were awake. Not really though. It was one of those times, were you drifted off to sleep, and then woke slightly, before dozing off again, the same process repeating for a while. You could sense your surroundings, but could not sense the flow of time, as you fell back to sleep in irregular patterns. One of those times, when you were slightly conscious, you could feel that your upper body felt cold, as the blanket had been showed off your shoulders while you were trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in. In your sleepy state, you struggled to move the blanket back, failing miserably, as you could barely tell was what up or down when in such a state. It went dark again. The next time you opened your eyes, the blanket was covering your whole body again, tucked into your sides to ensure that it wouldn’t fall off again. That wasn’t something you could have done. Suddenly, you felt too hot. Being under the blanket felt like being surrounded by fire. It became hard to breathe. All traces of sleepiness had disappeared, and your fight or flight instincts kicked in, your body tensing up.

The light had been turned off, making the light coming from your chest all the more noticeable. Another light was present, you could see it close to your window, it was somewhat obscured, as the figure had their back turned to you, looking out the window and into the dark night. It was him. It was Black Hat, the very being you had finally gotten off your mind just mere hours ago, but there he stood, with his arms folded behind his back, his silhouette darker than the night sky. What should you do? It would be a pathetic attempt, but you could try to sneak past him, towards your closet in the hallway, where you kept a metal bat for potential situations like these.

You managed to the blanket off you silently, but didn’t get much further, as the floor let out a big loud creak, as soon as you placed your foot on it. Fuck, why hadn’t you fixed your floor earlier, then this wouldn’t have happened.

‘’Awake already?’’

You were a deer in the headlights, caught in an awkward position with one foot on the floor and one still on the sofa. Slowly, you stood fully from the couch, not once looking away from the unmoving figure.

‘’Why are you here?’’ you managed to get out. His light became much clearer, as he turned to face you.

‘’Didn’t I say that you would see me again? Perhaps I took too long to visit you.’’ He gave a shrug, ‘’Even I need time to plan my next steps, and since I already managed to leave an awful first impression, the second step would of course be to set it right.’’ He walked closer, and when you tried to take a step back, your leg hit the sofa, causing you to fall down onto it. When he was in front of you, he got on one knee and took one of your trembling hands in his.

‘’Neither of us could have imagined this outcome, so I understand that you may not… _accept_ this situation just yet,’’ he lifted your hand to his mouth, his lips grazing your knuckles, as he looked into your eyes that were wide open, with his own half-lidded ones, ‘’but I can assure you, that you have no reason to fear me.’’

His touch made your skin hot. You kind of wanted to pull your hand back, but you still didn’t know what reaction to expect from him, so you didn’t. Instead, you asked him a question;

‘’What do you want?’’

‘’What I want? Didn’t I already explain?’’ He scoffed.

‘’I mean generally.’’ You yanked your hand out of his, cradling it to your chest, ‘’Why bother with me? Am I supposed to believe that you’ve just turned over a new leaf, and suddenly care about a thing like love? I may not know about your personal life, and what you do besides crime, but the only ‘you’ I know, is the one who values evil above all else, so I can’t comprehend why you are doing all of this.’’

Black Hat looked taken aback, but only for a moment. Then, he stood.

‘’I do not care for the creatures of this planet; I know I’ve made that very clear throughout the years. When I heard about soulmates for the very first time, I did believe, that even if I ended up with having a soulmate, I would never care for this person. But this whole ‘soulmate’-business isn’t just some weird thing that keeps us connected. We are apparently each others ‘perfect match’. So, to answer your question; what I _want_ , is to know you. You’re just a human, like any other, and yet, you have something that makes you my perfect match, and me yours. You could say, that I am curious, to see where this thing goes. Are you not feeling the same?’’

You couldn’t say that you didn’t. If he was your soulmate, that meant that somewhere, deep deep down in his soul (if he had one) there must be something _good_ , or at least something that resembled it. You could reject him, and go back to living a normal life (if he doesn’t become enraged), or you could sate your curiosity, and let this play out.

You wanted to make the choice, but it was hard to think when he was looking at you while saying nothing, expecting an answer. When he received none, he shrugged his shoulders, and turned his back to you.

‘’I’ll give you some time to think. We’ll see each other again soon.’’

And then, he was gone. He had vanished into the darkness, and you were alone once again. You were so glad that you had the day off tomorrow.

 

As Black Hat stepped out of the shadows, he noticed that the lights were out, his subordinates most likely already in bed. All but one, it seemed.

‘’Black Hat, a costumer has demanded to speak with you. It’s the one who commissioned the attack on the bank.’’ Dr. Flug let him know. It was late, and he looked exhausted. He had probably stayed up to catch Black Hat when he returned to the manor. Black Hat didn’t really want to do anything but retire to his office for the night, but it would be easier to just get it over with.

‘Bring him to my office’’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God, writing romance is so embarrassing, I hope I did ok.  
> I felt that I needed the reader to somehow realistically stop fearing BH, and understand that he is not threatening them, before they can become closer


	6. One More To the Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, 5.0.5 refers to Flug (and to some extent Black Hat) as his 'dad(s)'.

At the break of dawn, the Black Hat mansion was silent. Three figures were deep in sleep, with the fourth confined in his office, doing who knows what. It didn’t take long before the sun’s first rays shining through the pink window disturbed a sleeping figure. Stretching like a cat would, the blue bear consciousness slowly returned from slumber. The bear, known as 5.0.5 by the mansion’s residents, had no fixed role in the household. Dr. Flug was tasked with making new weapons and gadgets that could be sold for profit, Demencia was the one who did most of the dirty work, and Black Hat was the leader. 5.0.5 had no specific role, so he usually didn’t do anything productive, just spending time with his family, or doing small tasks such as cleaning, making food or waking those who were still sleeping, just like he would do today.

Flug was easy to find. As many other nights, he had fallen asleep in his lab, his head cradled in his arms on his desk.

‘’Baow.’’ The bear barked gently, as his large paws shook the doctor the best he could, without getting his claws caught in the scientist’s white coat. After the doctor had started grumbling and stretching, 5.0.5 decided to make his way to the last sleeping resident in the mansion, but was met with a surprise.

As he entered the dark room, the only light source being Demencia’s containment tank, he noticed that it was empty. It wasn’t supposed to be empty. There was no way that Demencia would have been able to get out of it herself, so he took off towards the doctor’s lab, hoping that his dad was still there.

‘’Ugh,’’ Flug let out a tired moan, as he rubbed his goggles, before realizing his mistake and moving his hand under his paperbag, ‘’what is it 5.0.5? Did you knock over a vase again? I’ve already told you, you gotta be more carefu…- WHAT IS THIS!?’’ Flug wrenched his hand out of 5.0.5’s grip, gestulating to the empty tube in the room in a panic. ‘’WHERE IS- oh no…’’ the doctor slouched, his paper-clad head pointing to the floor, as his hands came up to grip the brown bag. ‘’I remember! I forgot to lock her in her tube yesterday because of that client! Oh no, no, no! We have to find her, who knows what she’ll do to them.’’ 5.0.5’s curious gaze landed on his dad, as he wondered who ‘they’ were. His large, sparkly eyes followed, as the doctor paced around the room, muttering to himself; ‘’…shouldn’t have told her… who knows what she’ll do… and what won’t HE do? What to do, what to do… OH YES! THE TRACKER!’’ The giant blue bear let out a small squeal of surprise, as Flug suddenly shot up, before he stormed out of the room to return to his lab.

 

‘’Alright, We’ll see you again tomorrow. Have a nice day.’’ The security guard waved to you, as you left the building of I.V.O. after another specialized therapy session. Your therapist, Nettie, was a human woman, not quite one that people would call ‘old’ but she certainly wasn’t young anymore. Nettie was very reassuring and comforting, making it easy for you to talk to her. You supposed she had to be like that, to have this kind of job. You still weren’t sure how this would help, especially since the sessions where tailored to fit something that wasn’t the truth. And not only that, but now Black Hat had actually clarified what he wanted, you felt at ease. It was strange, but for some reason, it made sense to you. You shouldn’t trust what he had said, but there was just this _feeling_. This feeling that he was actually speaking the truth. At least you could agree with yourself that it wouldn’t really matter much if he were, as the outcome would be the same if he actually weren’t honest.

Shaking your head, you jumped of that train of thought, and hopped onto a new one; just how much he consumed your thoughts. Before the bank had been attacked, and that fateful meeting had taken place, your life had been normal. Days were spent worrying about what to have for dinner, if you could catch your train or daydreaming about meaningless things. It was life. It was simple. It wasn’t… dull, per say, but it was… peaceful, safe, and repetitive. Every day looked much like the last, and the daydreams about your soulmate always presented something _new_. Even if this person were the most ordinary person one could imagine, simply meeting them would have been enough to pull you away from the monotonous path you were walking on through life. The fact that this particular person turned out to be the most un-ordinary creature on the entire planet, however, was more like if you were going on a car ride and the road had been blocked by a fallen tree, forcing you to take another path. You had no other option if you wanted to keep moving forward.

_‘’The best you can do to protect yourself in this case, is to keep it a secret. Of course, everything that is said in this room stays in this room, but you have to understand the importance of this situation that you’ve found yourself in. No one can know.’’_

The words that Nettie had said earlier echoed through your head. Black Hat himself _might_ not be a threat, but everyone _else_ could be. Besides, Mr. Grutio was right when he said that nothing could be done against Black Hat. He _had_ conquered the planet multiple times, so even if you told anybody, it would most likely just be filed and then said file would be left in a dusty and dark room, filled to the brim with files for all his other crimes. That’s how you imagined it at least.

 

Throwing your jacket on the sofa, you grabbed the remote and turned on the TV, eager to have some background noise – you needed something to drown out your thoughts.

 

‘’… said that the investigation of the biggest bank robbery in recent history is still underway, but they can disclose that something was stolen from the Nation Bank System. It was taken from the S.I.F.A. safe that the bank had made last year, yet no one knows what it has been used for. Several theories have been made and…’’ The S.I.F.A. safe. You had heard of it, but you were in no way or form important enough to know its location, or anything else about it really. It was supposed to be the strongest and best safe the bank could get, and why would anyone need a high-grade safe, if not to keep something valuable or important locked in there?

A noise caught your attention. A small creak came from your roof, it almost sounded like there was a bird shuffling around up there, despite it being close to noon, where the birds had usually returned to their nests. But it was just some slight creaking, perhaps your roof just needed to be checked soon. And now that you thought about it, the front door needed to be oiled too, as it made the most horrendous screech whenever it was being opened or closed. Wow, suddenly, you remembered that spring-cleaning you never got done as well.

Then the thumping started, but it wasn’t on the roof. It came from… the wall? The wall between your living room and the outside. Curiosity urged you to take a look out the window, out into the dark street. The sun had gone down, but the lights hadn’t been turned on yet, flooding the street in a shrouding darkness. There was nothing to see; yet your hand automatically found the latch and opened the window, sticking your head out into the chilly air, a slight breeze rustling your hair. Nothing. Deciding there was no point to this, you went to close the window – and then something grabbed your arm. Letting out a scream, you fell to the floor, as the figured pounced on you.

Green and red were the most prominent colors on the person currently using your body as a cushion.

‘’So, so, so…’’ she drawled out, ‘’looks like Flug’s description wasn’t that far off, it’s actually pretty accurate, but of course it would be, since he’s such a nerd who has nothing better to do with his pathetic life than look at life as it passes him by.’’ She gestured wildly with her hands, before slamming them on either side of your face and leaning down within an inch of your face. ‘’That’s no way to live. You gotta participate in life, is what I, the great and lovable Demencia, has always said. And that means, when someone comes and tries to take your honey-bunny from you…’’ she reached into her large green pile of hair, only to pull out an… axe? (How was that in there??), ‘’you gotta take care of it yourself. Now, little-bittle human, a little nerd-bird has told me about you. Said you were Blackie Hat’s soouulmate and that you’re the reason he’s been acting all weeeird lately, locking himself in his office even more than he used to, and asking weird questions about how people ‘work’ and so oonn… My Blackie’s all messed up and it’s YOUR fault, and I can’t have that. Black Hat’s will miss the awesomeness that is me, if he keeps being distracted by some stupid nobody.’’

She raised her axe above her head; her yellow eye almost seemed to be glowing.

‘’Any last words, nerd?’’

Last words? Maybe some wise words could make her change her mind…-

‘’I take it you’re Demencia?’’

Ah, yes, of course your brain would shut down the moment you face the slightest chance of death.

‘’Yep, that’s me.’’ She chirped, a smile on her face.

‘’It’s nice to meet you?’’

She stared at you, the smile still present. ‘’Can’t say the same.’’

And then she swung.

 

And stopped. Right before your face.

‘’Demencia get off!’’ Demencia’s body obscured the newcomer, but the voice sounded somewhat familiar, and you already had an educated guess ready for who it was.

‘’Oh no, here comes the fun police. What’s up nerd? Thought you’d still be cuddling with your blueprints after staying up for so long.’’ She sniggered.

‘’No, Demencia, this is no time for jokes! For once, try to use your brain! Do you have any idea what Black Hat might do if they’re hurt? This is the first time he’s ever shown this kind of interest in anyo…-‘’

 

As the two bickered, a shadow fell over you. Towering over you, stood a giant blue bear; it’s shiny black eyes looking at you with a gentle curiosity. ‘’Baow?’’ It barked, the yellow flower on its head bobbing gently, as it cocked its head to its side.

‘’Um, hi.’’ You gave the bear a small wave, and a forced smile. It didn’t notice it was forced, or perhaps it didn’t care, as it let out a happy ‘baow’, before scooping you up into its arms, hugging you tightly, squeezing you with enormous strength, forcing all air out of your lungs, before letting you down. As you heaved for air, the blue bear made his way to his companion, whom the lizard girl had started clawing at, forcing them apart.

‘’You stupid nerd, how did you even find me? Demencia was so clooose to beating up this enemy! The enemy in the war for the love of my darling!!’’ She yelled, desperately trying to reach Flug.

‘’Demencia, you have a tracker on your leg, and it’s been there ever since the very first time you snuck out to attack someone without permission. In other words, it’s been there for _years._ ’’ Flug deadpanned.

‘’Ah, I see - I should’ve clawed this leg off sooner!!’’ She bared her sharp teeth, before opening her mouth, getting ready to chomp down on her leg. ‘’No, you’re not doing that.’’ Flug said, pulling out a small container from his coat, before he sprayed Demencia with water, making her to hiss and retreat behind the sofa, her head poking out to give one final hiss in your direction. He then turned to you, briefly looking away, as he fumbled with his hands, unsure of what to do with them. ‘’We’re really sorry for breaking into your house, it’s all my fault for letting her know about you, AND PLEASE DON’T TELL BLACK HAT ABOUT THIS…-‘’

‘’Okay, okay, I won’t’’ you reassured him.

‘’…You won’t?’’ you shook your head in affirmation, ‘’That’s a surprise, I imagined that if you were Black Hat’s soulmate you’d be kind of like him… evil, mean and- PLEASE DON’T TELL HIM I SAID THAT EITHER!’’ his hands clasped together, he begged you.

‘’Oh, Flug, you’re so naïve.’’ Demencia spoke up from behind the sofa. ‘’ The best way to keep your enemies quiet is to get rid of them. Simple.’’

‘’We are NOT doing that, I thought I’d made myself very clear! We are going home right this instant, before you can make any more trouble. 5.0.5., get her!’’ The bear nodded before walking behind the sofa and gripped Demencia, who did her best to escape it’s grip, but failed. ‘’Hey! Let go of me you stupid...-‘’ She screamed.

Flug turned to you. ‘’Well… It was… nice meeting you? And I hope? To see more of you in the future – alive, not dead and stuff.’’ Awkward silence ensued. ‘’Ok, bye.’’ He said, before he began pushing the bear and Demencia towards the open window. ‘’You could use the front door if you’d like’’ You offered, pointing towards it, but Flug appeared too busy pushing 5.0.5 through the window to hear you.

 

It was very late when the trio returned to the mansion, Demencia having grown tired of fighting against 5.0.5’s grip, now only grumbling while being carried. After having sent 5.0.5 to bed, and locked up Demencia in her tube, Flug was ready to go back to bed himself, after a whole day of chasing Demencia.

‘’Might I ask where you’ve all been?’’ A low growl came from behind him. Oh boy, just what he needed.

‘’Uh, nowhere important, sir.’’ He lied.

‘’You’ve never been good at lying, Flug.’’ Black Hat’s coat swished, as he made a 180-degree turn. ‘’My office, now.’’

 

 

Flug explained. Of course many excuses were uttered every two or three seconds, which only served to make Black Hat more and more irritated, but for some unexplainable reason, Black Hat did not react as Flug had expected him to. Instead of losing his temper, the moment Flug told him about Demencia’s plan, he stayed calm, and waited for Flug to finish. When Flug stopped talking, he merely told him to ‘make sure to keep an eye on Demencia in the future’, and then dismissed him.

Internally, the doctor let out a sigh of relief, his hope of living another day had been granted. Now he just needed to get out of the office before Black Hat could change his mind…-

‘’Did they say anything?’’ Flug turned abruptly to his boss, who had moved his attention to the mountain of paperwork on his desk.

‘’Huh? About what?’’

‘’About me.’’ Black Hat’s stare was still fixed on the papers, as he signed them.

‘’No. They didn’t sir… Um, sorr…-’’

‘’Dismissed.’’ Black Hat cut him off.

Flug then left the office. He had worked for Black Hat for several years, and could proudly proclaim that he had gotten pretty good at picking up on Black Hat’s emotions, and the disappointment radiating off his boss surely meant that he would get to see (y/n) again in the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be honest, I have no idea what the difference between a therapist and a psychologist is, so I've just used whatever was easier to spell. I tried to look it up but I couldn't understand it ;/ Apologies  
> Also, sorry for taking so long, but it's getting colder outside and winter always makes me at least 30% more tired and unmotivated, so be ready for some slow updates  
> If you're wondering how Flug knows reader's name and address, it's because he looked them up for Black Hat at some point after their first meeting


	7. Time To Face Reality

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've finally updated. I've been really busy with christmas and my drivers license plus the fact that I've adopted a cat, and it hasn't been easy to adjust to that, but the chapter is finally here!!!  
> This chapter has in no way been spellchecked and shit, so if you find a spelling error or a stupidly written sentence die mad about it

‘’So, when exactly are we going to deliver the weapon to the client? It’s been quite a while since we stole it, and yet we still have it. OOH, did we actually just fool him into giving us money, and then we keep the weapon? Dibs on trying it first! I wanna try turning people into mutants! Just imagining their stupid faces while they slowly lose their old bodies…-‘’

‘’Demencia, I’m gonna have to stop you there.’’ Flug held up his hand to shush her, ‘’We are _not_ keeping the weapon for ourselves. The client is just not ready to receive it yet, we are _holding_ it for him till he’s ready, and you are in _no way_ allowed to touch it or use it, do I make myself clear? Demencia?’’ He called her name, but the lizard girl had already stopped listening, jumping over to 5.0.5 and harassing him instead. He should probably lock up the weapon, as Demencia would without doubt try to use it, her ever-so rebellious side shining through at all times. But that would have to be done later, as of right now; he had to pry her off a distressed 5.0.5.

He _did_ ask Black Hat about it later, though, but the answer was the same that he had given Demencia. Still feeling slightly unsure about the plan, he decided to ask Black Hat about what the rest of the villains thought. They undoubtedly knew that they were behind the attack, and while most villains knew to stay out of Black Hat’s way, there were always a few (often people who were new to the business), that tried to prevent them from succeeding in order to further their own gains (it was unnecessary to say that they never came out victorious, but they were still quite a pain in the behind).

‘’I know what goes on in the underworld, Flug. One does not just become the ‘top dog’ by simply being evil; you have to keep yourself updated on what is happening in the shadows too. Most villains have already accepted my reasons for destroying that lousy bank as a show of power, so there’s hardly any reason to worry about someone meddling with our plans, trying to steal what we have stolen. We will proceed as planned.’’ And with that, Black Hat had turned his high chair towards the window, effectively shutting down any chance of further discussion.

While Demencia and 5.0.5 were unbothered by Black Hats nonchalance, Flug was not. It was stupid, he knew that much. Black Hat’s Organization had _never_ lost to anyone before, but his anxiety-riddled mind never let him know peace, as it constantly conjured the most unrealistic and terrible outcomes, often being that he and his teammates would suffer utter defeat at someone else’s hands. The fact that they were dealing with a new and unknown client only made his anxiety worse, as he felt safe when he knew what he was dealing with, hence why he always made sure to look into whomever they came across, be it in a casual or professional setting, just like with Black Hat’s soulmate. It was always easier dealing with the ‘unknown’, when you could gather the slightest of information about it, and use it to your advantage sooner or later. But as of now, he was left in the dark, and there was one glaring weakness that shone through it. As stated earlier, his brain often made up the most unlikely scenarios, but it never hurt to take precautions.

 

‘’So, you’re telling me that you actually _did_ see who committed the attack? And that it was Black Hat? And that you’re only telling me this now?’’

Sweat was gathering on your brow, your eyes locked onto the floor, as you nodded your head. The police officer in front of you let out an exasperated sigh, as he rubbed his temple with his hands, and let out a low murmur; ‘’Oh God.’’

It had taken a long time for you to make the decision, but you had finally made up your mind after watching the last several broadcasts on TV about the attack. Everyone was going on about the unknown ‘thing’ that was stolen from the safe, and who in the world it could be in the hands of. Of course it was most likely a villain, but _which_ villain is what made all the difference. Was it a truly dangerous one, or simply one that was more of an annoyance and was only known as a ‘villain’ because people didn’t care to argue with a harmless person, whose ego was just a tad too big for their own good. And now that you knew not to fear Black Hat, you had decided to take the chance, to try and calm the people before they panicked.

‘’I know that I should have told you sooner, but there were certain… things, that I needed time to think over, before I could gather the courage to talk about it.’’

‘’I understand. It’s always dangerous to be the one to deliver information about villains to the police. God, they really should make it illegal for newspapers to publish stories about ‘whistleblowers’ like you. But of course, they only care about money, so if a few people go missing because of their articles, it’s suddenly ‘not their problem’ and ‘out of their hands’.’’ He huffed.

Fumbling with your fingers, you waited patiently for his next move. Had this been a rushed decision? Definitely. But you felt that if you had not made up your mind now, you might never have stopped discussing with yourself. Everything about this situation was stupid, but it was reality for you. Difficult problems have always been a part of life, but that doesn’t mean that one ever gets used to them, and is able to face them without wanting to run away. You certainly felt like running right now. You hadn’t thought of the paparazzi. You had just innocently assumed that you could walk in, say what you needed to say, get out, go home, go to bed. But of course, life was never just that simple.

‘’Well, we'll probably just end up writing down the case and then never work on it again, now that we know Black Hat is behind it. That’s just how it’s always been, but I’m not gonna lie and say that this doesn’t make me frustrated, because it sure as hell does, but you did the right thing. Once we announce it was Black Hat’s doing, people will probably calm down and forget about it soon.’’ He said, as he scooted backwards in his chair and stood, walking out of the back of the police station, with you following his lead.

‘’Nevertheless, we appreciate the info.’’ He shook your hand, and told you to have a nice day when you exited the police station. During your uneventful walk home, you took some time to ponder what the policeman had said. Had a person from a different reality listened in on your conversation, they would undoubtedly have questioned the logic behind the policeman’s words. Why would people calm down, if they heard that the most powerful and evil being in the world had stole something so important that it was kept in the S.I.F.A. safe? He had always been the one at the top, the one that could never be defeated, no matter how much of a struggle humanity put up.

Keyword; _had._ He _had_ always been feared, but with time his image had turned from that of a supervillain, to an obscured villain from a children’s tale, like the boogeyman. Since he no longer appeared much in public, he was in some way distanced from regular people’s lives, the other villains getting much more daily attention and fear due to them constantly ‘being near’. They were a part of the daily life; while Black Hat had been made into some sort of ‘entity’ that was both feared and idolized, much like a god, who descended from his throne every once in a while to wreck havoc, the only difference being that his existence was never debated.

 

After that, a few days passed by. You went about your life as usual, making sure to take it easy, often spending your afternoons watching movies and eating unhealthy stuff instead of watching the news like usual. You felt that you deserved the peace and quiet. Just tune out the cruelties of the world and feel the joy of re-watching that silly kids movie that you had always loved. The days were peaceful, and everything felt okay. That is, until one day where you were returning home from grocery shopping. You felt as if someone was looking at you. The unwelcome feeling was impossible to mistake for something else, and yet there was no one around that seemed to be looking at you. A small group of young girls were currently surrounding a stray cat, which happily accepted the attention it was given by them, and the rest of the street was barren. The sun was still up, but it would be dark soon. Figuring you would feel safer in your house with your metal bat, you walked just a bit faster the whole way home.

 

Dropping your bags on the kitchen floor, you made your way to the closet in the hallway, grabbing your bat before going back to the kitchen to unpack the groceries that needed to be put in the refrigerator. When you were done with that, you would go to your room and lock the door. There was no guarantee that you were in danger, but better safe than sorry. Who knew, maybe the lizard girl from before had gotten out and was tracking you down once again. Closing the refrigerator, you gripped the bat with both hands and exited the kitchen. The silence in the house made you agitated, and your cursed yourself for being so paranoid. Of course, that was before something hit your head from behind. Letting out a pained scream, you braced yourself against the wall, as the pain blinded you for a moment. You were able to make out two figures before you, one significantly bigger than the other, as the biggest one advanced towards you.

You swung at him, but he ducked and punched you in the stomach, forcing all the air out of your lungs. You dropped the bat and fell to your knees, your eyes watering as you struggled to regain your breath.

The larger man gripped your hair and forced you to look up at him, smirking as you groaned in pain, before turning to his partner.

‘’Just wait till we deliver their head to Black Hat. He might not think much of us ‘lesser’ villains, but I’ve got a feeling he’ll definitely remember us after this, and just think of the possibilities being in Black Hat’s favor will bring. We should get out of here before anyo…- AAARGH!!’’ The man let out a scream, as his body convulsed violently, his eyes going white, as he collapsed on the floor. His teammate let out a yelp, whipping around to catch a glimpse of the attacker, but was met with the same treatment before he could do anything.

‘’Amateurs. Absolute amateurs. You _always_ have someone on lookout when you break into a private house.’’ Flug sighed, as he put down the stun gun he was wielding.

‘’Flug!? What in the world are you doing here?’’

‘’What am I doing? You haven’t seen the news? Your face is plastered all over the newspapers. They’re all talking about how an ‘unnamed civilian managed to survive an encounter with Black Hat’. I figured something like this might happen, so I came as fast as I could.’’

‘’But how could anyone have known? I never told anyone who would tell the press about me.’’

‘’Well, I’ve read some of the articles, and it’s not because someone _knew_ , they just assumed correctly. From what I’ve gathered, it seems that someone saw you leave the police station and when the police stated that they suddenly knew that Black Hat was behind the attack, but didn’t want to announce the identity of the source, this person went on the Internet and wrote that they saw you. This garnered a lot of attention and before long, someone had managed to shoot a photo of you while you were in public, recognizing you from the description given by the original poster. Because it went viral, it made the news quickly, and that’s basically how you got famous, and also how you got on every villain’s hit list.’’

You hugged your legs, and rocked back and forth softly, trying to prevent yourself from vomiting.

‘’U-um, you know, if you want to… you could probably come with me.’’ Flug scratched his neck nervously.

‘’Huh?’’ You looked at him questioningly.

‘’Well, I mean… These guys probably won’t be the only ones attacking you, and if I hadn’t showed up, you would probably be dead already, so for your own safety (and mine), how about you come live with us? I’m sure that Black Hat would prefer that too.’’ He chuckled nervously, avoiding eye contact with you. ‘’You are his soulmate after all.’’

It wasn’t like you had any other choice, and you wondered just how much your life had changed in such a short span of time, as Flug helped you pack your bags and get ready to leave for Black Hat’s mansion.

 

 

 

Black Hat’s eye twitched, as he heard a commotion outside his office. He had finally gotten some peace, and then it was suddenly ruined for whatever stupid reason his subordinates had this time. Whatever it was, it could wait. Crumpling the paper he was reading in his hands, he marched to the door and threw it open, getting ready to destroy their eardrums, but he froze.

Nothing, _nothing_ could have prepared him for what he saw on the other side. Demencia had her axe out and was wrestling against Flug, who yelled at her to ‘stay back’. Just beside them, stood 5.0.5, cradling Black Hat’s soulmate protectively in his arms, as he eyed the violent lizard girl nervously. Several bags laid scattered on the floor, as if they had been dropped in a hurry.

When Black Hat slammed the door into the wall, they all stilled, only then acknowledging his presence. Black Hat felt his body distorting, as rage overtook him.

**‘WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!?’’**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that we're finally moving in with the squad^TM, we can finally get some REAL progression between BH and reader ;)  
> 90% of this chapter was written in like one day leave me alone
> 
> The distance... for the light to work... is relative...


	8. A Warm Welcome

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You're the sunflower  
> I think your love would be too much  
> I just rewatched spiderverse and it's sooooooooooo good. I also passed my driver's exam, so now i have my license and im feeling proud of myself

‘’DARLING!’’

Black Hat’s eyes flitted over to Demencia, who had immediately stopped her attempted assault at you, her now heart-shaped eyes ogling Black Hat, her whole stance shifting from aggressive to flirty faster than you could blink. Black Hat didn’t seem impressed. In fact, his shifting and wavering form now inched closer towards you all, causing all three members of the organization to take a cautious step backwards. Flug was the first to take a brave step forward, as he had untangled himself from Demencia.

‘’Sir, I- uh, I can explain..,-‘’

‘’ **QUIET,** you’ve already been enough of a nuisance. You three will keep quiet and clean this mess up.’’ He pointed at the bags that lay scattered on the ground. ‘’As for you,’’ both 5.0.5 and you let out a yelp, as a big shadowy hand rose from the floor, and snatched you out of 5.0.5’s grip, ‘’you’ll be spared the company of these fools.’’

As Black Hat turned around to return to his office, the hand followed, leaving you to glance helplessly at the others, as the doors closed behind you, leaving you alone with Black Hat. As the sound of scrambling steps were heard from outside, the giant hand slowly sank into the floor and disappeared, letting you down in the process.

‘’You’ll have to excuse me, had I knew you would come to my mansion, I would have made sure Demencia was locked up. However, I doubt you could just waltz in on your own, so that begs the question, _why_ are you here? Not that I mind, of course…’’ He let out a low chuckle, as he circled his desk to sit down in his chair. You let out a small nervous laugh, totally unprepared for this situation.

‘’About that… erm, the thing is, I was attacked in my home, by some unknown people, and, uh, Flug showed up and helped me, and theeen he invited my to stay here. Because, you know, it would be too dangerous to…-‘’ You babbled.

‘’Yes, I see. For once, it seems like my subordinate has managed to make a good decision.’’ He grumbled, ‘’I’ll have a room arranged for you. I have certain things that need to be taken care of, so in the meantime, the three idiots will be your company. I’m not happy about it, but I’d rather not have you wandering around alone, as there are many things in this mansion you should not be near.’’ He rose from the chair, and made his way to you, ‘’I would not want my little light to get hurt, least of all in my own domain.’’ He stood before you, leaning down closer to your face, to a point where you would probably have been able to feel his warm breath… if he had any? Now that he had stopped talking, you noticed that his chest was not moving, indicating that he wasn’t breathing. As he awaited a response from you, you placed your hand on his chest beside the light, in a sudden fit of curiosity, to feel if he had any heartbeat. Nothing. His chest was cold and it somehow felt hollow? As if the outer layer of his skin was the only part of his body that was solid, and there was nothing behind it to offer any resistance to your hand pressed against it.

The incredibly silence of the room pulled you from your thoughts, and you noticed just how stiff Black Hat’s form had become. Casting a quick glance at his face, you saw that his eyes were evading you, his face scrunched up into what could possibly be described as a bashful expression, but it disappeared before you could be totally sure. His hands clasped yours abruptly, removing it from his chest, he yelled; ‘’Flug!’’

Immediately, you heard noise from somewhere in the manor. In only a few seconds, a winded Flug made his presence, knees shaking and chest heaving, as if he had run a mini-marathon to get to the office.

‘’Flug! Show them around the mansion, and prepare a room for them. When you’re finished, report back to me.’’

-

 

Black Hat looked down at his chest, seeing the light slowly fade into nothing, as you and Flug walked further away from the office. They were here. They were right by his side, but not because they wanted to. They had been attacked.

He could feel his chest tighten in irritation, as he mulled over the situation. He should have known. He was supposed to know about everything that happened in the underground, yet somehow, this planned attack had gone by him, and it had nearly cost his soulmate their life. Was it because he hadn’t followed the daily news the last couple of days? Seeing as nobody in the underground had talked about this, they might have just been petty robbers or murderers; or they had managed to keep their lips sealed about their plan and their motive. He didn’t know, but it didn’t matter. Their motives, plans and ambitions meant nothing to him. His soulmate was safe, but that would not result in any mercy from him.

But there was _one_ threat in the mansion that had to be taken care of.

-

The tour didn’t take long. Sure, you were in a mansion, and mansions are usually big, but many of the rooms where off-limits, which only left the more ‘casual’ rooms, such as the kitchen, the halls, the sofa room and so on. At some point, 5.0.5 had joined your group, and Flug had left him with the task of bringing you to your new room, as Flug himself had to go back to Black Hat.

‘’Sir? You wanted to see me?’’

‘’I want you to keep Demencia on a thight leash. I don’t care if you have to do it literally, she is not to cause _any_ discomfort towards our guest, do I make myself clear?’’

Shocked by the abrupt demand, Flug paused for just a moment, before he responded, ‘’Yes, as always, sir! I’ll do my best to keep her in check.’’

 

He paused again.

 

‘’Er… I will of course do what you have asked me to do, but as you’re probably aware of, Demencia doesn’t really listen to me, so if I might come with a suggestion, then perhaps you should talk to her? She’s attacked (y/n) before, and I think she doesn't take it very seriously because of the way you reacted back then.’’

‘’What do you mean, doctor?’’ Black Hat spoke with slight venom in his voice, obviously displeased at having his orders questioned, no doubt. Flug was already on edge, but of course his trainwreck of a brain couldn’t figure out how to use the brakes.

‘’I mean, I can’t recall a time where you’ve reacted so calmly to a mistake, ever. Perhaps, you’ve become a bit… soft?’’

Black Hat scoffed, ‘‘Do not mistake that for ‘softness’, dear doctor. The only reason I made no punishment for you three fools, is because nothing happened to them. Had you failed in stopping Demencia… There would have been **consequences.’’** Black Hat kept his voice calm, but Flug didn’t need to be spoken to in a special tone, to recognize the severity of the threat. Black Hat might have blown a couple of thousand fuses, whenever Flug messed up an invention, or Demencia/5.0.5 were bothering him, but if his soulmate had been killed, the trio would no doubt have been killed too. His angry fits might have made him appear as a comic and unserious character, but this man – this _thing_ – that stood in from of him, had no qualms with disposing of him and the others in less than a heartbeat. Black Hat might have donned the face of a man – or at least something that resembled it – but he was not a humanly being, and in moments like these, Flug wondered how he could have ever forgotten.

 

‘’Demencia, I can assure you, that Black Hat will be _very_ disappointed with you, if you continue trying to attack his soulmate. They’re here _because_ we are trying to keep them from harm, and I’m sure that it’s safe to assume that Black Hat would rather have to replace you, than he would let you hurt them.’’

‘’Cheh,’’ Demencia clicked her tongue, ‘’You’re so serious all the time. But fine! If it is what my darling wishes, then I guess I’ll play nice. Besides, my darling is smart. He’ll see that they’re no good for him sooner or later.’’ She clasped her hands in front of her chest and sighed dreamily, ‘’Then I’ll get rid of them for him, and he’ll definitely praise me for disposing of the trash. Maybe he’ll even let me…-‘’

‘’Okay, okay, I don’t need to hear that! Just act civilized and don’t freak them out. Even you should be able to do that.’’ Flug stated irritably.

While the two were bickering in the other end of the mansion, you had placed yourself in a comfy sofa, 5.0.5 laying by your side, letting out happy squeals as you scratched his tummy. Of course Demencia’s constant attacking had scared you, but nevertheless you felt welcomed. It was nice that you had somewhere to stay, while this whole mess was happening. You definitely did not want to stay in the house where you had just been attacked. Who knows if anybody else was planning to try to kill you like those two guys before.

A low humming broke you out of your trance, and 5.0.5 let out a curious bork, as you fished out your vibrating phone from your pocket.

 

_Mr. Grutio_

 

Oh. Why was he calling you all of a sudden? It was usually the receptionist who called you when there had been a change of plans or anything of the like, hardly ever Mr. Grutio himself, so why would…-

You flinched and looked down to see 5.0.5’s head placed in your lap, looking up at you, his eyes wordlessly asking about your wellbeing. You pat his head.

‘’It’s okay. It was just a phonecall. I can handle it.’’

Petting 5.0.5 with one hand, you used the other to pick up the now silent phone. You read the message that popped onto the screen; ‘’xxx-xxx-xxx has called and left a voicemail. Hear voicemail.’’

You pressed the ‘’Hear voicemail’’ button, and heard Mr. Grutio’s voice; ‘’Hello, (y/n)? I saw what happened on the news, and I’m calling to hear if you’re okay. No one knows where you are, and… just, please, call me back if you hear this message. I want to know if you are safe and sound. And if you’re in danger, I can help you. Please call me back if you can.’’

Well, well, well, if it wasn’t the consequences of your actions. What were you supposed to do? Maybe it was best to lay low, and let everyone believe that you were dead? People would be sad, sure, but was it really so selfish to prioritize your life above their pain? You allowed yourself not to care. There was no one in your daily civilian life, with whom you were close enough to trust completely, so better be safe than sorry.

Besides, after being given such a warm welcome, how could you just leave?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The cracks in Black Hat's confidence make themselves present.  
> Also, I don't know if I'm just imagining things, but I feel like there have been more and more soulmate Au reader-fics since I published mine


	9. Getting Acquainted

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reader makes some progress with one of residents of the mansion.  
> Let_Me_Give_Kudos_Twice's comment came into my house, kicked my ass, and told me to finish the chapter.  
> so i did  
> And also, thank you to everyone else for commenting. I dont answer the comments, but you should know that you're the ones who keep me motivated to continue this thing

The inhabitants of Black Hat’s manor were an… unusual group, if you had to be honest. Sure, their skills and interests weren’t _that_ different from the common people, but it was their relation to each other, that you found interesting. You had no idea why they worked for Black Hat, or, well, Demencia’s reason was pretty clear, but 5.0.5 and Flug? You had no idea. Even if Black Hat seemed to want to make a good impression with you, you still witnessed how he treated his subordinates, and yet, they stayed with him. You _could_ ask, but you weren’t that close yet, so you decided to wait.

 

They really are a strange bunch – you thought, as you ducked behind the sofa, avoiding a destructive beam of light coming from one of Flug’s inventions. Demencia had of course thought it would be an entertaining toy, which led to the rest of you dodging for you lives, as she waved it around manically, enjoying the chaos.

‘’Demencia, that’s enou--.. AAH! Nonono!’’ Flug shook his coat, to put out the flames, before the hole Demencia had caused could become bigger, as Demencia clutched her stomach in laughter.

‘’Oh poor Flug. Don’t act like you haven’t got a pile of those stuffed away somewhere. It’s all you ever wear!’’

You let out a scream, as a beam pierced through the sofa, missing your head by an inch. As you scrambled backwards on your butt, Flug, who was too distracted by avoiding Demencia’s assault, tripped on you. Untangling yourself from Flug took longer than expected, which gave Demencia more than enough time to aim and shoot. The last thing you saw was a green light filling your vision, before it extinguished, and all went dark.

 

And the first thing that you saw, was your own reflection in a set of black goggles.

‘’ARE YOU OKAY? Oh, I don’t even know what the effect of that ray would be on humans! I never even got to test it before Demencia stole it!’’

‘’Considering what it did to the sofa, it ‘prolly aint anything good.’’ Demencia spoke up with a smirk, sitting on the top of a table on the other side of the room, her legs crossed, while her face rested in the palm of her hands.

Looking down at yourself, you noticed that you had been placed in what could only be described as a makeshift bed - it certainly didn’t feel comfortable, like a real bed should.

‘’Do you feel anything strange? Anything at all? Oh this is just the worst thing that could happen right now. Hang on, I should have some sort of invention with healing properties somewhere. Just, stay where you are.’’ Flug rambled while running out the room.

 

You listened to Flug’s frantic footsteps disappear slowly, before you turned to look at Demencia, who was playing with a small machine that looked relatively harmless. At least, she didn’t seem to be out for your blood at that moment, which gave you an opportunity to talk to her.

‘’You and Flug… you don’t seem very happy about each other.’’

She scoffed in reply, ‘’Of course we don’t. Why would I ever be happy to be around such a stick-in-the-mud? All he does is just make stuff, and even if his things fun to play with, he never actually let’s me play with them. That doesn’t stop me though.’’ She cackled, as you let out a small sigh, and replied; ‘’Yeah, no shit.’’

Then it went quiet.

You didn’t know what to say. You didn’t really know anything about Demencia, other than the fact that she loved Black Hat and chaos, and that she disliked Flug because he wasn’t as… immature, as she was. You definitely didn’t want to talk about Black Hat, fearing it would make her remember that you were a potential ‘threat’ to her (nonexistent) love life, and make her attack you. The effects of the ray hadn’t worn off yet, and you doubted you could evade any of her attacks.

‘’…It’s not bad here though.’’

‘’Huh?’’

Demencia coiled her hair around herself tightly, hiding her face in the green strands, ‘’I said, it’s not bad here. Even when my Darling isn’t around, at least I can annoy those two… so, I don’t hate them.’’ She said, her voice muffled, and almost reluctant, ‘’But I don’t like _you_.’’ She sneered, ‘’You think you’re safe in this place? With me around? HAH! You might as well just leave now. I’ll be nice and give you five minutes to run.’’ The lizardgirl spoke, with her nose in the air.

‘’i’m not going to run.’’ You uttered calmly.

She stared back at you, ‘’…You’re not?’’

‘’No.’’

‘’Pft-‘’ she blew a raspberry, while she buried herself in her coil once again.

‘’I’m going to stay here, you know? I don’t know when this threat will be gone, and I can’t say what I’ll do when it is.’’

She shifted in her coil, letting her eyes poke out behind her hair, her eyebrows knit tightly as she glared at you.

‘’Is it because you love him? That you don’t wanna leave?’’

‘’I didn’t say that I didn’t want to lea…-‘’

‘’No, but it’s pretty obvious, you know. I may not be as smart as Flug, but I’m not dumb!’’ She hissed, but it wasn’t aimed at you, just nowhere in particular. Did you love him? Definitely not. But did you want to leave? Probably? These past days your emotions have been so hard to understand, like there were too many all at once, which made them melt together. It was much like mixing a bunch of colorful paint together, only for it to turn into a boring brown.

‘’I don’t love him… but he’s my soulmate, which means it’ll probably happen sooner or later, if we continue spending time together.’’ You spoke carefully, looking down at your hands to avoid Demencia’s glare, ‘’You’ve made it very clear that you’d rather have me gone, but I think we both know that’s not gonna happen, so why don’t we just try to live with each other? We can be friends? If you’d like?’’

 

‘’No.’’

Welp, guess that plan didn’t work.

‘’You’re my _rival._ ’’ She said, freeing herself from her protective ball, and jumping the distance from the table, right to the end of the bed. Before you could react, she had placed both her hands on either side of you, and her face was right in front of yours, a smug grin on her face.

‘’Did you really think that I, the great and evil Demencia, would become friends with the likes of you? Someone who is an obstacle to me? You know, I think I finally understand what my beloved is thinking. HE wants ME… to overcome you.’’ She moved one of her hands, to point dramatically at your face. ‘’I can’t kill you, which means I have to find some OTHER way to get you out of the way. It’s all a test, to see if I’m really worthy of his love, OOHh, but don’t worry darling, I, the fantastical and mystical Demencia,, will of course prove myself worthy.’’

At this point, she was just talking to herself, making you feel as if you were observing a theatrical piece, with the way she empathized her words and gestures, caught up in daydreams of evil love shared with Black Hat.

‘’That’s… okay too, I’ll… do my best to be a worthy rival, I guess.’’ You chuckled uneasily.

‘’Pftt- worthy? Good to hear you’ll at least be trying, even if it’s totally impossible.’’ She bellowed with laughter.

You jumped, while Demencia merely turned her head to look, at the doorway where Flug now stood, having just slammed open the door.

His chest heaved as he chocked out the words, ‘’Demencia did you do anything to them? I swear, I will lock you in the tube if yo…-‘’

‘’No! No, she didn’t do anything. We just talked.’’ You interrupted, gaining confused stares from both Flug and Demencia.

‘’…If you say so. Anyhow, I managed to find the device I was looking for. I just need to hook it up to this and we’ll be all set. Don’t worry, you’ll be up and running in no time.’’

As he shuffled around with the cords of the machine, you turned to face Demencia once again, whispering quietly to her.

‘’You’re on.’’

 

\----

 

On other end of the mansion, was its owner. The rays of the setting sun let him know, that he had wasted another day on doing nothing about his situation.

He was getting anxious. This whole ‘soulmate’ business had not moved forward at all, since he had last seen you. No matter how much he cringed at the thought, he wanted to see you, to talk to you, to figure out what… To figure out something, _anything_ , that would make sense.

He was interrupted by a Hatbotl-er.

‘’Client 7589A2 has requested a meeting. He would like to have a closer look at the mutant gun, that he ordered. According to your schedule, these days are open…-‘’

He had to be patient. Business came first.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TBH, the reason it took me so long to write this chapter, is because i'm currently in 'unmapped' territory. I mean, i've made an outline of the important parts of the story, but i really wanted a lot more character interaction with all members before there's suddenly no time left for that, but i didnt really know what to write  
> I know you're all here for black hat, but i personally really dont like fanfics where the other characters become totally unimportant/never interact with the reader, therefore i decided a long time ago to make sure to dedicate some chapters to the three members


	10. Flashes of Someone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter really just wrote itself, so you all get an early update :)

‘’…I’m not sure how Black Hat would feel about this.’’

‘’I know, and I promise you, that I will deal with him if he is displeased by this, okay? I just need to know more about… all this. This whole situation I’ve found myself in. If Black Hat and I have a chance of… ending up together, I feel it is only fair for me to know about these things.’’

Somehow you were able to see Flug’s paperbag twist into an unsure expression, his eyes shifting towards the door you stood before. Behind it was his lab, with all his equipment and inventions, along with blueprints and sketches for future gadgets.

The important thing was, that this was one of the few rooms you had not seen yet during your stay in Black Hat’s mansion. It was – in a way – a hidden side of Black Hat that you had not yet seen.

‘’I know that… ugh, I don’t know what to do.’’ He mumbled, rubbing his temple in frustration.

‘’C’mon, please, it doesn’t have to be long.’’ You pleaded.

His gloved hand clenched around the handle, as he thought to himself for a moment.

‘’…Fine. But only for a short time, alright? You really shouldn’t be too close to inventions like mine.’’

As he opened the door, you looked in. The room was quite like the one you were placed in after being shot, it’s rooms with walls made of metal, tables and chairs made from strong materials, and no windows to be seen. The only difference was the heap of machines placed everywhere, along with several blueprints and tools scattered about.

‘’Please don’t touch anything without my permission. Many of these are weapons and some of them aren’t exactly stable.’’

Letting out a hum of agreement, you walked past Flug, and took your time looking at everything. There was a wide variety of stuff, some machines small enough for you to hold in one hand, while others reached all the way to the roof of the room.

Walking by a table filled to the edge with tolls and blue papers, something caught your eye.

‘’This one is…’’

There laid the weapon Demencia had stolen just two days ago. It was locked in a see-through box, most likely to keep it out of Demencia’s hands. Seeing it took you back to your conversation with Demencia. You knew why she stayed here, but what about Flug? Or 5.0.5? Might as well ask now.

Looking over your shoulder, you saw Flug had taken a seat at a table, fiddling with one of his machines. Strolling over, you took the chair on the opposite side of the table. He looked up as he sensed you staring.

‘’I’ve been meaning to ask… why do you work for Black Hat? I mean, I’ve seen how he treats you, and I personally wouldn’t stay with a boss like that. Demencia’s reason is pretty obvious, but you seem like the type of person to think more… rationally about these things. ’’

‘’We’re villains.’’ He replied nonchalantly, ‘’I don’t mean to be rude, but what did you expect? Villains may band together for a number of reasons, but you must realize that many of us just do whatever we feel is the most beneficial to us or our goals. Even with the bad treatment, working under Black Hat is an opportunity that very few will ever have.’’

You hummed in thought, ‘’Then, what are _your_ goals? What is it that he can give you that makes up for this?’’

For the first time, you heard Flug let out a small chuckle, ‘’I’m a scientist. Taking over the world is an understandable goal that many have, but such things do not motivate me. I simply wish to be able to perform whatever experiments I want and invent whatever I want. The rules of society would only hold my research back, on the assumption that it’s ‘bad’. Sure, someone has to be the guinea pig, and said person might get hurt, but does that really matter?’’ He asked, his voice growing in volume, as he delved further, ‘’Just think about it, how much value does one simple life really hold? A creature that just lives its life, going around eating, shitting and sleeping, while contributing nothing to the greater good of our world. How much worth can this creature possibly hold? People are too emotional when it comes to science. The truth is simply that someone has to get hurt for us to understand our world.’’

‘’But not me?’’

He stared at you, his fingers twitching. He obviously knew you were referring to the incident with Demencia, ‘’Uh, no, you’re… one of us now. And more importantly, you’re Black Hat’s soulmate, so I couldn’t possibly…-’’

‘’But do you want to?’’

‘’I don’t…- I just said…-‘’

‘’I heard that, but I want to know what _you_ want. Imagine that Black Hat wouldn’t punish you. Would you want to experiment on me then?’’ You asked curiously.

 

‘’…yes.’’ His voice was barely audible, his eyes avoiding your gaze.

Keeping your calm, you continued, ‘’I see. And what would those experiments be?’’

Sensing no danger, he hesitated only a moment, before he answered, ‘’It would probably be… I would’ve liked to learn more about how soulmates work. Of course, there are the basic ‘rules’, and everybody knows them, but no one knows where the light comes from, or why exactly there even is a light and so on and so forth. What makes your case even more special is that your soulmate is Black Hat, and I don’t know how much you know about him, but he is not exactly human. And he’s probably eons older than you. How would that even work? There’s just so many unanswered questions.’’

Tapping your finger on the table, you considered your next words.

‘’Mhm, while I can’t let you experiment on me, I could try to answer any questions you have. It’s probably not that helpful though…’’ You trailed off, realizing just how dumb your suggestion was.

‘’No, no, I’d actually appreciate that.’’ Flug dismissed your concerns.

‘’You would?’’

‘’Sure, it might be more helpful to experiment on your body, but seeing as you have first-hand experience with having a soulmate, there must be some things only you understand, compared to me, who doesn’t have one. I believe this arrangement can be beneficial to the both of us. You tell me what you experience and I’ll be sure to teach you everything you need to know about us. What do you say?’’ He extended his hand to you, ‘’Deal?’’

You shook his hand and smiled, ‘’Deal!’’

 

After watching Flug tinker with a hypnosis-beam for a while, you could feel yourself getting tired, as the day came to an end. Rising up from your chair you stretched and yawned.

‘’You know, I’m really grateful for this, Flug. No one knows just how long I’m going to be staying here, so I might as well get used to the… whole villain-thing. Seeing the things you work with helps a lot.’’

He nodded, ‘’I understand that. I know this is far from anything you’ve ever dealt with; so don’t hesitate to come to me for help. By the way, have you felt anything… unusual these last two days? I can’t imagine that _that_ weapon’s only function is to knock somebody out.’’

You gave Flug a small smile and nodded, ‘’I’ll be sure to keep you updated.’’ before you bid him goodnight and turned to walk away.

 

You had been given your own room to sleep in, while you stayed at the mansion, and it could only be described as luxurious. The room was much bigger than any bedroom should be, with a door leading straight out to a bathroom, which was also bigger than average. The room was decorated like the rest of the mansion, with dark colors and a gothic style. Above the fireplace – oh yeah, you had a fireplace – hung a large painting of Black Hat, wearing a royal cape, resting one hand on a cane, the other placed on his chest, his face displaying a smug and victorious grin. There were many paintings of him throughout the mansion, you had noticed. His narcissism wasn’t just an act. But in your room too? Seemed a bit excessive.

The most important part of the room was the bed. Nothing could compare to it. It was possibly the softest thing you had ever laid in, and you doubted you could ever sleep in a normal bed again.

Shrugging off your clothes, letting them fall in a pile on the floor by your feet, you practically fell into the bed, drifting off to sleep within minutes.

Across the room, there was a slight movement, an eye resting its gaze on your sleeping form for a moment, before retreating back to it’s original position, looking out over the room from above the fireplace.

 

You were asleep. You could feel it. Which normally also meant you weren’t really asleep, but somehow you could feel that you were, floating in an empty, warm darkness. Your body was gone, leaving behind your sentience alone, floating aimlessly, only barely registering the passing of time.

There was a flash of green.

The darkness didn’t return. Instead, you were greeted with blurry patches of colors moving around you, slowly coming together to form a blurred picture of a room.

Then came the voices. Muffled at first, but slowly becoming clear enough for you to understand.

‘’Andrew, I understand how you feel about these people, but we unfortunately don’t have any other choice. Contacting villains is the only way to information.’’

‘’I know. I know that, but how can we be sure that they’re not lying? They have no reason to tell us what happened, and what if they’re already dead? Do you understand the consequences it would have? People won’t be able to trust our organization anymore, and if they can’t do that, then who will they turn to? _What_ will they turn to? Villainy? Villains are the last thing we need more of right now.’’

‘’I understand, sir.’’ You heard someone take a deep breath, before the voice continued, ‘’Regardless, I believe that’s the best course of action. We have to take this risk.’’

A defeated sigh.

 

‘’I need to look over the details before I can make a decision. Could I ask you to get the file for me, Nettie? It’s in the ‘ongoing cases’-drawer.’’

It only occurred to you now, that where there should be two people talking, there were only black voids that floated as their figures moved around the blurred room. From one of the figures extended a dark branch, that opened a drawer, which was filled to the brim with folders, each labeled with what could only be described as nonsensical codenames.

Before you could get a closer look, you felt a tug. Suddenly, the image in front of you shattered, and instead of floating, you were now falling.

The voices faded.

You fell into darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will have focus on BH!  
> By the way, I am going to be starting at a job in Latvia in like a month, and I don't know how long I'm going to be staying there, but this might slow down my writing process just FYI


	11. Night Talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God, I love when two people are together alone at night. It just seems to intimate y'kno  
> 

Darkness.

Again.

Whatever vision you had just experienced was long gone, no color or sound present in the void surrounding you. But, where the darkness was once warm and comforting, it was now cold and slightly uncomfortable. It was like sitting in a cold shower, right after getting out of your warm bed.

Floating around, you had no sense of up and down, of left and right. There was simply… nothing. You could only feel the sensation of your consciousness, reminding yourself of your existence.

Something shifted.

A bit to the right - or was it to the left, perhaps?

It was moving around you, looking at you, observing you silently. You couldn’t see it, but you could feel it. Where the darkness once felt like air surrounding you, it now felt like water, pressing at you from all sides, twisting and turning you around gently, while the observing presence moved from place to place. After a few moments of this, the pressure slowly dissipated, as the void around you crumbled away.

 

Gravity came crashing upon you.

Or more like you fell out of bed and crashed on the floor.

Either way, it hurt.

Untangling yourself from your heavenly soft blanket, you took a minute to calm yourself, still sitting on the floor of your room. The room was dark; the lack of natural sunlight from the window letting you know that it wasn’t morning yet. A quick look at the majestic grandfather clock showed it was still waaayy too early to be up. Rubbing your eyes, you stretched your arms above your head, feeling the muscles click back into place. Sitting on the floor, you eventually made the choice to take a short walk around the mansion, as sleep would not come easily after whatever you had just experienced.

 

The mansion was creepy. Its gothic and moody decoration didn’t exactly look welcoming in the daytime either, but with all the lights turned off, and the halls totally vacant, it felt just like a horror-game. Most of the doors were closed, but down the hallway, there was one open door. Was somebody still up? Only one way to find out.

Tip-toeing towards the door, you peeked past the doorway, into the room. The first thing you noticed was, without a doubt, the dark figure in front of the enormous window. Behind it was a big shadow on the floor, formed by the bright light from the moon, streaming in through the red window. The top hat made it impossible to mistake the figure for anyone else than Black Hat.

Should you talk to him? You hadn’t really seen much of him since you moved in, and to be honest, you felt awkward thinking about talking to him. Like, what in the world could you possibly talk about? You had nothing in common, as far as you knew… hm, maybe that could be something to talk about? But it just didn’t seem like the time for it, so you decided to turn high tail, and make your way back to your room, as silently as possible.

 

‘’You’re up late.’’

Startled, you turned around to find him looking at you over his shoulder. His gaze seemed calm and collected, as if he was not surprised to see you up at this time. Taking a quick glance down at yourself, you saw the tiniest shimmer of light coming from your chest. While you hadn’t noticed that, he apparently had.

‘’I suppose I woke you up. I apologize for that, I know how much you humans value your sleep.’’

You entered the room, your chest glowing more with each step you took towards Black Hat.

‘’You woke me up? I’m pretty sure falling out of bed woke me up.’’

He let out a huff of laughter, ‘’Well, that too. It was quite amusing to see you wrestle with your linens.’’

‘’See me..? You were watching me?’’ You asked, shocked at his disregard for privacy.

‘’At ease,’’ He held up his hands in a motion of surrender, ‘’I don’t keep tabs on you 24/7, but yes, I did take a quick look after I noticed you weren’t in your room.’’

You raised an eyebrow, ‘’But… I was?’’

‘’Your _body_ was.’’ He stated, ‘’Your soul, however, was somewhere else, so I dragged you back. You must have felt it.’’

He turned away from the window to face you, his eyes looking deep into your eyes, as if he was trying to reach into your soul with them. (Was that how he had dragged you back? With his eyes?)

‘’Either there is a bit more to you than I believed, or something else pulled your soul away. Which begs the question, has something happened to you that might have caused this? I’d rather not have your soul floating away with the wind, to who knows where.’’

You had a pretty good guess at what had caused this; Demencia. The green light from the gun, had been the exact same as the one you had seen in your sleep. It would be easy to tell him now and let her take whatever punishment followed.

_‘’You’re on.’’_

But then again, you liked to play fair - to some extent.

‘’There was… an accident. Demencia was bothering Flug, and she accidentaly knocked this untested weapon down from a table, which caused it to fire repedeatly. Flug tried to make it stop, but it managed to graze me before he could. Perhaps it’s a side effect of the weapon? Anyhow, no actual harm was done, and Flug made sure to lock the weapon away afterwards, and punish Demencia properly, so, there’s no need for you to waste your time on that.’’ You said, being quick to assure Black Hat as soon as you noticed his jaw clenching in anger, ‘’Besides, you’re the strongest being on the planet. Dragging around a soul can’t be that hard for you, can it?’’ You asked innocently, effectively goading him towards protecting his pride, rather than think about his subordinates’ mistakes.

‘’Pft, of course it isn’t hard for me!’’ he scoffed at the thought, ‘’There is no thing more powerful than I on this planet.

‘’And yet this powerful being feels the need, to be able to much watch me at pretty much all times? God, you’re such a creep.’’ You said with a teasing tone, shaking your head.

‘’That I am, my little light. I have an image to maintain, you know.’’ He said with a crooked smile, showing off his sharp fangs. The nickname suddenly felt very intimate, as you realized you were sitting in his mansion, on his sofa, alone in a room with _him._ Was it hot in here, or were you just getting nervous?

‘’Um…’’

‘’Yes?’’

You rubbed your feet together, ‘’Is it okay if I put my feet on the sofa? I mean, it’s just looks very expensive, so I just wanted to be sure…-‘’

‘’It belongs to you.’’

You stilled, ‘’…the sofa?’’

‘’This mansion, and anything else you desire.’’

Okay, what?

‘’…The only thing I really want is to understand this.’’ You mumbled, ‘'This whole soulmate-business. It’s just… a lot. I mean, you’re a supervillain, you probably see a lot of weird stuff every day, but I’m just a normal human. The weirdest thing I ever get to see are the frequent villain attacks, and those have just become ‘normal’ too, as time has gone by. And yet, here we are – soulmates. It’s… kind of weird, huh?’’ You let out a forced laugh.

He didn’t reply.

Folding your legs against your chest, and draping the blanket over them, you rested your head against the sofa.

‘’I’m too tired to go out and… do something, but we can talk? That is usually the first step you take when getting to know another person, and we haven’t really… had the time for it.’’ It had been a pretty busy time for you, and whenever you actually had the time, he was locked away in his office, leaving you no opportunity to chat with him. It’s not exactly like you wanted to just go up and force him to spend time with you. He may have been your soulmate, but better safe than sorry.

‘’That’s where you have me at a disadvantage. You obviously know a few things about me, whereas I know next to nothing about you. So, to even out the scales,’’ He gestured towards you with an open hand, ‘’why don’t you start?’’

So you talked to him. You told him about your life, your job, you friends, family and hobbies. Everything you could recall at that exact moment. And he listened. It was only your sleep-induced voice filling the room, Black Hat simply looking out the window as you talked, the only telltale sign he was listening being his eye fluttering towards you momentarily, whenever you paused.

It was nice.

As you talked, you sank further and further into the soft cushion of the sofa, struggling to keep you eyes open, as they tried their hardest to close shut.

The room grew quiet, as the words died before they made their way over your lips, as you feel asleep, cuddled up in a blanket on the couch.

 

Noticing the disappearance of your voice, Black Hat turned to look at you. Thinking you had taken a moment to think, he was surprised to see you fast asleep. He supposed he should have expected this, given it was the middle of the night, and humans _need_ their sleep. Of course he knew they needed sleep, but he could never really accurately predict how it affected each individual. It seemed this ~~his~~ one was able to fall back asleep fast.

After a moment, he decided just looking wasn’t enough. His shoes made little noise, as they moved against the currant-red carpet decorating the floor.

Leaning down over the human’s sleeping form, his gloved hand brushed against your skin, as he moved some stray strands out of your face. It hit him at then, that this was the first time he had ever seen a peaceful expression on your face, your other meetings always having been under circumstances that had you tense and on-guard. Moving his hand slowly, his hand traced the shape of your face, from your temple, down your brow, before cupping your cheek, feeling the warmth from you skin seep through his gloves, as he gently rubbed your cheek with his thumb. The last time he had felt such warmth was when he had wrapped his hands around the scientist of the mansion, after another one of the doctor’s screw-ups. His actions then had been fueled by irritation and rage, his actions done in the need the let out some steam.

This was different.

It could be described as a simple curiosity - as the first taste of something unknown. Something unknown that could potentially become something _familiar,_ given enough time and patience. He couldn’t wrap his mind around it. To think that this being, this exact being, was his soulmate. It didn’t make sense. Why here? Why now? Why them?

Your eyes fluttered behind your eyelids briefly, before you let out a sigh, snuggling into Black Hat’s hand with your face, your lips curved into a drowsy smile.

You were right. It was weird. Strange. New. _Exciting._

And for the first time

Deep within him

He **felt** something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really trying to keep BH (and everyone else) in character, but it's so hard to do that while writing fluff, which is why I really appreciate when you people tell me it feels in character. A lot of the time I spend writing the chapters, is spent figuring out how to make it feel as realistic and coherent as possible so thank you all


	12. Taking Action

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh man the hits really blew up after the pilot aired huh wonder how popular it has to be to get fanart
> 
> You can clearly see where I got lazy, but I can only muster up so much motivation for one chapter at a time

‘’Okay, does everyone understand the plan? (Y/n), do you know what you have to do?’’

‘’…Stay far away from the lab, and do not enter under any circumstances?’’

‘’Yes, exactly!’’

Letting out a sigh, you tuned out Flug’s voice, as he fought to make Demencia pay attention to the plan, as she was goofing off as usual. In a way, you were jealous of her. Of course you were grateful you weren’t as crazy as her, but she still got to be a ‘real’ part of the team. Because of your ‘status’ as Black Hat’s soulmate, Flug made sure to keep you far away from anything that could pose a threat, especially after the incident with Demencia. It was the logical thing to do, considering you had no talents or powers to protect yourself, but it made you feel left out, as the three members spent much of their time doing missions, and Black Hat still needed some time to get out of his shell. It had been just two nights ago, that you feel asleep while having your first honest talk with Black Hat since you had moved into the manor.

You could feel the heat in your cheeks, as you thought back on it. It had been… nice, but wandering the manor by yourself so much made you feel as if you were back on step one. Still just a newcomer, still just a stranger, still just a soulmate. Someone to be protected and looked after, as if you were a jewel and someone would either steal you away or break you.

Apparently, Flug had brought someone back from his trip outside, whom they needed to ‘interrogate’ – probably just torture for information – and you weren’t allowed to watch or hear it happen.

What this was even about, you had no idea.

 

-

_‘’Now what the fuck do you want, nerd? Can’t you see we’re busy? Doesn’t a sidekick like you have a real villain to follow around?’’_

_Amateurs, the lot of them. They had to be, otherwise they wouldn’t be laughing at his face, cluthing their stomachs and slamming their fists on the table, as if they had just heard the funniest joke in the world. If they were proper villains, they whould have recognized him the instant he stepped into the shady, dim-lit bar that laid hidden from the rest of the world, behind a protective barrier that hid the place from anyone who didn’t know how to enter. Considering he was the one who had made said barrier, he had no problem getting access, and yet this new meat thought he had tailgated someone to get inside. The sheer audacity nearly had him reaching for his raygun, but he needed information, and he would not get it by deconstructing the physical form of the three villains in front of him. He had already done a bit of digging, and this was the last place THEY had been seen, so he was forced to ask these jugheads if they had seen them around._

_‘’Good one, Cinderhead! Seriously, wannabe-villains like him are just an embarrassment for the rest of us…-‘’ Pausing, he turned to stare down at Flug, as if he was surprised to still see him standing there, ‘’You’re still here?’’ He asked with a ‘surprised’ tone, merely to mock him._

_Flug’s hand twitched in the direction of his pocket. Patience, patience, he had to calm himself._

_‘’I’m looking for Smileyface and Ghoster.’’ He said._

_Silence descended upon the group, the thug’s nervous eyes fleeting around, all asking the unspoken question; ‘’Why was he asking about THEM?’’_

_Huddling together, they whispered to each other, ‘’Shit, do you guys think anyone knows? What the fuck do we do?’’, ‘’Why the fuck would anyone know? Those guys weren’t exactly popular ‘round these parts!’’, ‘’Shut yer trap, he’s still standing right there!’’_

_After a final bout of silence, the tallest of the group stood, and moved in front of Flug, as his teammates looked on nervously. Five red and yellow eyes stared down into Flugs goggles, as the guy puffed out his chest and crossed his arms. A pathetic attempt at trying to establish dominance, really._

_‘’Who wants to know? We can’t just give out information to whomever, you know. Especially not second-rate villains like you.’’_

_Nobody laughed this time._

_Oh, he had waited for this. Hidden by the paperbag on his face, a smug smile formed on his face, as he gave himself a small dramatic pause before he spoke up._

_‘’I am Doctor Flug, I work for lord Black Hat.’’_

_The two still sitting at the table let out chocked gasps, as the mutant in front of him quickly turned white as a sheet._

_Finally, he let himself bring out his raygun, and point it straight at the thug’s face._

_‘’And I’m not really interested in knowing who you are.’’_

_-_

Well, considering how much of a pushover Flug was, you could probably get some information out of him later.

‘’So we’re all clear on this? Demencia, you get to play around a bit with those two, before I take over, alright? And 5.0.5, please stay with (y/n) and keep the company. This shouldn’t take too long, so don’t worry.’’ He squeezed 5.0.5’s big cheeks affectionately, before turning to enter the lab behind an excited Demencia.

‘’Oh hey Flug, I need to talk to you before you go!’’ You called out.

‘’Ah, yeah sure.’’ He stopped in his tracks, giving you his full attention.

‘’I had a weird dream a few days ago, and I think it might have something to do with the weapon Demencia used on me. When I got hit, I saw this strange green light, before I fainted, and I saw the exact same green light in my dream. Afterwards I saw some obscured figures, they were talking about something I didn’t really understand, and the last thing I saw was one of the figures retrieving something from a drawer, where every file was labeled with some sort of codes.’’

‘’Codes?’’ He asked, ‘’What kind of codes? If we could somehow figure out what those codes are for, we could track down these creates you saw, and figure out why saw them in your sleep.’’

‘’Mmm, that’s the thing. I don’t really remember much, but I know there were a lot of numbers and letters, like, 355F63, 2436KH4, 7589A2, 09EK342, and so on. But again, I don’t even remember if those are the correct numbers.’’

‘’It’s better than knowing nothing at all.’’ He scribbled it down in a notebook, ‘’You haven’t had any visions like that since then?’’

You shook your head.

‘’I see… Interesting.’’ He muttered to himself, ‘’But if anything like that happens again, then tell me as soon as possible, alright? In the meantime, just take it easy. We’ll make sure to take care of it when we’re done with this.’’ He pointed at the door to the lab. He turned around halfway, before he looked at you again.

‘’By the way, did something happen between you and Demencia? I haven’t seen her attack you once after the incident. It’s impossible that she listened to me, so did you say something to her?’’

You pursed your lips and looked to the side, before muttering, ‘’We… found a compromise.’’

 

‘’I know Demencia can be… a handful, but you might actually make a good team once you’re able to set your differences aside. I mean, look how well your suggestion worked. I wouldn’t even have let Demencia be near the lab, but I can see now that letting her tire out the other two is going to save me a lot of time.’’

‘’Uh huh, that’s nice,’’ you answered absentmindedly, ‘’But! I really shouldn’t keep you from your work any longer. I’ll be with 5.0.5.’’ You said over your shoulder, while dragging 5.0.5 outside with you, leaving Flug standing alone.

‘’Uh, okay, have fun.’’

 

Stopping in the hallway, you let go of 5.0.5’s arm.

‘’So…’’ You turned to look at 5.0.5, who in turn looked down at you, a gentle and curious smile on his chubby face, ‘’Are you up for a super secret mission?’’

 

-

When would you learn?

When would you learn, that your actions have consequences, even after you moved in with the most dangerous supervillain in the entire world. Perhaps your need for answers had blinded you.

 

Shielding your face, you felt a fist hit your arm, sending a shock through the bone, causing your arm to go numb. The force was enough to knock you down on your butt, glaring up at the attackers as they came closer.

‘’Now, gimme your name! We can’t have any whistleblowers sneaking around here, so if you’re a real villain, then you better give me your name.’’

‘’Hey, aren’t they…?’’ His companion interjected.

‘’What, man? Aren’t they what?’’

‘’Aren’t they the supposed soulmate of Black Hat? Yeah, I’m pretty sure I’ve seen their face on the internet. It’s a really big thing right now, everyone’s talking about it!’’

‘’You seriously believe that shit? It’s just lame-ass conspiracies made up by people who got nothing better to do. Seriously, that crap doesn’t even make sense. They’re probably just wandering around here because everyone is trying to track them down. Hell,’’ He looked at you, ‘’I almost feel sorry for you. Been on the run for a good portion of my own life too. But still… an opportunity like this doesn’t present itself often.’’ He grabbed ahold of your arm, forcing you to stand. He seemed to have powers connected to ice or snow, as a thin layer of ice covered grew on your sleeve. His grip was too strong to break out of, no matter how much you struggled.

‘’Now I don’t really understand what you were trying to accomplish by bringing _that_ with you.’’ He pointed towards 5.0.5. who was too distracted by a third person, to notice the peril you were in. The person, a woman who seemed just as excited about 5.0.5. as he seemed about her. With a satisfied grin on his face, and his small tuft of a tail wagging like crazy, he happily leaned into the scratches and nuzzles, which the woman showered him with, as she continually remarked how ‘unusual and cute’ he was.

You probably should’ve stayed home.  

 

‘’Okayyy, buddy, I don’t think this is such a good idea.’’ You muttered, trying to peel away his hand with yours, ignoring the scabs of ice that formed on your fingers.

‘’Really? You don’t think keeping the person, whom pretty much everyone thinks is the goddamn _soulmate_ of _BLACK HAT?_ Gee, I wonder what would be the better alternative. Maybe just kill you right now? If Black Hat cared for you, I’d imagine he’d be crushed, making him that much easier to overcome. And I ain’t exactly the only villain who hates his guts, everyone just too scared to do anything, ‘cause that’s just signing you own death warrant. Now I personally believe everyone’s got a weakness, and I refuse to believe that he ain’t got one. So, if by any chance you really are his soulmate,’’ He gripped your chin, forcing your head to look upwards, into his eyes, ‘’then I just hit jackpot. And if you’re not? I know where to bury your body.’’

Oh shit.

 

A familiar giggle was heard, bouncing off the walls of the hidden alley you were currently in.

‘’The fuck was that?’’

The giggle was heard again, but it was much closer this time.

The ice on your arm was slowly thawing, as the man’s hand grew slick with sweat.

‘’WHO THE FUCK IS OUT THERE?’’ He yelled.

‘’Dude, calm down, it’s probably just another villain who’s passing by.’’ His partner meekly suggested.

5.0.5 happily boawed out of the blue, his eyes fixed on something you couldn’t pinpoint. The woman tried to find looked in the same direction, but apparently found nothing unusual.

‘’What is it boy? What do you see?’’ She asked 5.0.5, scratching him under the chin, but he was no longer paying attention to her, his eyes fixed on the unseen something.

Holding your breath, you waited for something to happen.

 

You didn’t have to wait long.

Before you even could react, your arm was free. Before you was a mess of green hair, attached to someone very familiar to you.

Looking down, you noticed the cracks in the pavement around the man’s head, Demencia having kicked his face in a mere second ago.

‘’Hey! You!’’ The partner yelled, lunging at Demencia.

A quick straight jab to the face from Demencia sent him barreling straight to the ground.

‘’Get off him, you little brat!’’

As the woman tried to pounce on Demencia from behind, her body suddenly convulsed, missing her target and falling to the ground, her body twitching and curling, as she gasped and grunted. Out from the shadow stepped Flug, In his hands, was a small machine, wires going from the machine to the woman’s back.

‘’Wha…-! How’d you find us?’’ You gasped.

‘’5.0.5 is my own creation. Of course, I would implement some tracking device in him! I can’t have my son running around unsupervised.’’ He stated with a deadpan expression, as the woman screamed and writhed on the ground, her eyeballs rolling back behind her eyelids, clawing her face in agony. The sight made you nauseous, and you looked away, your eyes coming to rest on Demencia, who was still biting into the man who had attacked you just prior. He was already out cold, so no sounds came from him.

Bouncing off your now unconscious attacker, Demencia skipped over to you, and shoved her face so close to yours, that you were forced to take a step back, in order not to fall over.

‘’Golly, and I thought we were gonna be rivals, but how are we gonna be that, if you go get yourself killed? Do we need to put a bell on you or something?’’ She flicked the tip of your nose, making you flinch. ‘’Well, I don’t think one little tracker would be too much. If we have to babysit you constantly anyway, then I don’t see why we shouldn’t have some way to keep track of you, you see?’’

‘’Demencia, _no!_ We’ve already discussed this.’’ Flug hissed at her.

‘’You’ve _DISCUSSED IT!?’’_ You gaped, unable to hide the shock in your voice.

‘’No! No, I said that wrong! We didn’t really _discuss_ per say! I _explained_ to Demencia why we shouldn-…’’

‘’He totally would have done it if my darling hadn’t gotten angry about it!’’

‘ _’DEMENCIA!_ ’’ Came Flug’s outraged shout.

 

Suddenly, a shift in the atmosphere.

Something cold touched your ankles, before it quickly started moving up your legs, to press against your back. Black tendrils floated into the corner of your vision. Your small shadow disappeared, as a much larger one consumed it, one that kept growing, with an outline of a tophat at the tip.

The tell-tale light flared up on your chest.

A bony, clawed hand found its place on your shoulder, dragging you further back into the liquid void behind you.

Before you could utter another word, the void encircled you, cutting you off from the scene in front of you. The ground turned to air, leaving you floating in nothing.

But your light shone brighter than ever.

-

 

Several moments passed, before color returned to your vision, the darkness slowly seeping out of the air, dwindling into nothing. The sudden return to gravity made you stumble, before you managed to balance yourself.

 

How long had you been encased in the darkness? Being sealed away in the darkness felt much like you would imagine being in another dimension was like, leaving you with the weirdest feeling of jetlag you had ever experienced.

Turning around, you jumped in the air, as the large double doors slammed open. In came the trio of the mansion, Flug in the lead, clearly out of breath. Second came Demencia, her expression showing a mix of fright and fatigue, giving her quite the comical expression. It was much better than her usual cocky and arrogant posture. Casually walking through the door, came 5.0.5 in last place, his pace made him seem relaxed, but his usually cute and curious face told another story.

 

‘’Too long.’’

Whipping around, you faced the opposite side of the room, where Black Hat stood in front of the giant pink-tinted window, fiddling with a pen in one hand. You were certain he hadn’t been there before.

‘’Ah, but darling, we came here as soon as we could. And look! We got your human back for yo-…’’

‘’After losing them.’’ Black Hat’s tone left no room for argumentation, leaving the trio fidgeting, as they awaited his next move.

A crack was heard, as the pen shattered in Black Hat’s hand, splattering ink all over his grey gloves.

Sinking down into the shadows, he reappeared behind the trio, easily tossing them out of the door, before slamming it shut.

 

‘’What were you thinking?’’

For each step he took towards you, you stepped one back, until you felt the edge of the desk digging into your leg. Because you had looked back over your shoulder to see exactly what was preventing you from going further, you failed to see how close Black Hat had gotten. Looking forward again, you lost your balance, as Black Hat was much too close for comfort. Stopping your fall with your elbows, you kept your eyes on Black Hat’s as he came closer still.

‘’Did you even think at all? You are staying here for your own safety, so what reason do you have to go seek out trouble? I don’t suppose I can expect this to be a quirky part of your human nature? I know you humans have quite a need for attention, but surely there must be better ways to get it.’’ He snarled.

Taken aback by his gruff tone and words, you stared at him in silence, your eyes wide and mouth hanging open.

But then the irritation hit you. The frustration, the confusion, all the emotions that had dwelled inside you, since your very first meeting with Black Hat. All because of that damned light that was currently glowing between you.

‘’You want to know what I was thinking? I was thinking how much I hate being left out of the action. I was thinking how _stupid_ it was, that I’ve been trying my hardest to become part of this group, but _you_ make it so hard for me. I _know_ I’m just a human, but you have the tools! The people! Who can help me and teach me how to make it with all this crazy stuff going down! Is it just how it is? Is this how my life is going to be if I stay with you? I might as well not even be here, if the only thing your presence has ever done for me, is cut me off from my old life! Is it because you’re afraid to be near me? Afraid that if you seek out my company voluntarily, you’ll lose something?’’

Black Hat grimaced, his mouth going from tightly shut, to cracking open to show his gritted shark-like pointy teeth.

‘’And what could I possibly lose?’’ He asked with a low growl.

‘’You might lose me.’’

Grabbing onto his back, you dragged him down to your level, before burying your face in his shoulder.

‘’Please don’t lose me.’’ Your voice came out muffled against the black cloth of his trench coat.

 

‘’I suppose…. some slight changes can be made, if it would make it easier for you to stay.’’ He mumbled, silently accepting your hug, but not reciprocating it.

 

‘’I would like that… _dear._ ’’

You couldn’t help but throw your head back and laugh, when Black Hat almost bit off his forked tongue, as he was spluttered in reply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, we got the first real episode now, huh? Gosh it was so gooooood I loved it  
> However, the episodes also proves some of my takes on the world of Villainous wrong, but we're just gonna ignore that dont worry bout it  
> Readers need to be included is gonna be important so take notes


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